teach your horse two tracking handle your horse

Transcription

Summer 2007
TEACH YOUR HORSE
To Lie Down
TWO TRACKING
Stages One & Two
HANDLE
YOUR HORSE
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July 7-8
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Summer 2007
Vol. 1, No. 2
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Clinton Anderson
Downunder Horsemanship
No Worries Training For
You and Your Horse!
8755 State Route 638
Belle Center, OH 43310 USA
1-888-AUSSIE2 (888-287-7432)
937-464-2047
www.clintonanderson.net
President: Clinton Anderson
Tour Manager: Cindy Sackett
Writer: Rachelle Wilhelm
Graphic Design: Elaine Baker
The No Worries Journal is published
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© 2007 Downunder Horsemanship
Printed in the USA
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Features
How Much is Too Much?
Training Questions
Before and After
Katy, TX Tour Horse
Teach Your Horse
To Lie Down
Exercise Snapshot
Flower Power
Desensitize Your Horse
To Fly Spray
Two Tracking
Stage One and Two
Catching Up
With ‘Little Clinton’
Road to the Horse
After Thoughts
Handle Your Horse
Away From Home
Behind the Scenes
with Apprentice Krista Robinson
How to Get Soft Hands
Fine Tune Your Horsemanship
3-Day Clinic Experience
A Page from Rachelle’s Journal
Energy
For the Athletic Horse
Priceless
Meeting Clinton Anderson
Letters
Thank You!
I’m sure you get this a lot, but I really want to thank you for just being so
easy to understand, so achievable, so
well demonstrated. My husband and
I switched to satellite from cable just
because we could get RFDTV—that
was about 6 months ago. I am GLUED
to every Downunder Horsemanship
show—even the re-runs. I am new to
horses, 3 years now. I was 48 years old
when I first got Charity. She was 2. I had
a little help in the beginning, but now I
have help several times a week through
Clinton Anderson. I have my first few
DVDs—Gaining Respect, Round Penning and Riding with Confidence.
There is SO much to learn, and there
is such variety in the things covered.
Because it is well explained and demonstrated, I really can accomplish it!! That’s
the key—not that it works, but that it
works for ME! My horse and I have clear
objectives and clear victories and a logical progression to a defined goal. That
picture you keep in your head - the one
where you are just running free across
some field on your horse, happy, and
free—it’s not a fairy tale anymore—it’s
the objective!!
So, thank you to Clinton and the
whole organization!
—Leslie Kilty & Charity, West Central, IN
A Crisis Story
I know how busy you all are at DUH
but I’m sending this anyway. This comes
right from my heart.
This past weekend out here in southern CA we had a serious fire. You may
have seen it on the news - the Windy
Ridge fire. It was in the wilderness area
at the end of our street, literally in our
back yard. It started just before 8am on
Sunday. We had to evacuate the neighborhood, people & animals. We had 3
hours to pack, find somewhere to go
with horses, dogs, cats, and other animals, and get out. If you remember our
street, we do not have much room so
the horse trailers have to get out fast to
make way for the fire trucks. It was scary.
The sky was smoky and black and gray
ash was falling. Everyone was stressed
out. I had, in addition to my animals, an
extra 8 horses and 2 goats at my place,
waiting to be hauled to safety.
I knew 3 of my horses would load but I
wasn’t sure about Abby, my paint mare.
2 | No Worries Journal
They told me when I bought her that she
would load but I had never tried it. (Yes,
I know I should have worked on it BEFORE we had a crisis). Well, I went to
load Abby and she panicked. She got in
the trailer but then turned and ran out,
terrified. This went on for a few minutes
and she just got worse. Some very wellmeaning people tried to help shove her
in, which of course didn’t work at all.
Time was running out so I loaded my
2 geldings (do you remember Grady &
Frosty?) and took them to safety. Meanwhile, a vet gave Abby a light sedative,
just enough to calm her a little. Then I
came back for my 2 mares. By then, I had
to sweet-talk the policeman into letting
me back onto my street. I opened up the
trailer, got my Handy Stick and Abby
and got to work. I had almost no time.
If she didn’t get in quickly, I would have
to try to walk her out. I did just a little
approach & retreat and got her
feet moving forward and
back. Then I started doing the Sending Exercise,
not a complete lesson,
just into the trailer. The
minute she put any part
of her body in the trailer,
I would rub her with the
stick and my hands. I let
her out when she wanted
but sent her forward again.
After just a few minutes
she got in and licked her
lips. I backed her out, sent
her in again and was able to
close the divider while she
stood quietly. I was thrilled.
Even though she had not worked
on trailer loading specifically, we
have been doing the groundwork
and I had started her on some obstacles, like poles and the bridge.
I could see her brain switch from
reactive to thinking. I was so
relieved. I quickly loaded Nada,
my precious old girl, and took
them both to a safe place.
We brought the horses back
on Monday and I wondered
how well she would load without
the sedative. It took less time than the
day before. She needs more work to be
really reliable but she did pretty good.
She loaded in about 5 minutes and rode
home quietly in the trailer.
I can’t describe how thrilled I am. Hon-
estly, I’m surprised too. THIS STUFF
WORKS - REALLY WORKS, and I could
apply it even under pressure and stress,
in challenging circumstances. To have
some knowledge and some tools to use
in a life or death situation is valuable
beyond words - priceless. I’m not expressing myself very well but I hope my
meaning comes through anyway. Please
tell Clinton how fabulous it was for me
to be able to tell my frightened horse
what she needed to do and to have her
respond. Tell him I said “Thank you.”
We are all home now and safe. The
fire is 100% contained. They stopped it
right at the edge of the neighborhood.
It was a very close call. We have ash
everywhere and the park is completely
burned but no lives were lost.
Many thanks!
—Karen Ahlquist
Abby and some
of the fire’s devastation.
Do you have something you’d like to share?
Email your letters to journal@noworriesclub.
com, or mail to: No Worries Club Journal, 8755
State Route 638, Belle Center, OH 43310.
Clinton’s Corner
Green Horse, Green Rider
A Recipe for Disaster
should be a 23-year-old, one-eyed, crippled, ugly gelding.
I have a saying that I like to tell people—a green horse and a green rider are
the perfect ingredients for disaster. Let
me explain.
Horses teach people, and people
teach horses—but in that order first.
Meaning that when you first get started
riding try to buy a horse that will actually teach you. What do I
mean by that? He’ll be safe,
controlled and respectful.
He’ll build your confidence
and teach you the basics.
Once you’ve reached a certain level of riding ability
and confidence, you’ll more
than likely outgrow that
particular horse’s ability. At
that point, you get a horse
that has more natural talent
and skill.
Once your experience level has come up significantly,
it’s your job to teach horses
what you know, which is
the second part of that saying—people
teach horses. But what people think is
that a novice rider will be able to teach
a novice horse. In a perfect world, it
sounds great doesn’t it? But in reality,
it’s a very unsafe, dangerous and a nonproductive thing to do. Now believe me,
I started out doing this as did most other people too. Everybody’s first horse
What do I really mean when I say that?
Think about the mental picture you get
when I describe that. To me, I think of
an old ranch horse gelding that’s real
safe, quiet and has lots and lots of miles
under his feet. You know, he has been
ridden outside on trials and in pastures
for years. He’s dependable, honest and a
great confidence builder for the person.
But a first horse is often the 2 or 3year-old shiny black Thoroughbred off
the track. Everybody’s dream is that the
horse and the owner will learn together,
grow old and die together, and that is
true. They will die together, but much
sooner rather than later.
So do I really mean that I want you
to get a blind, crippled, lame gelding?
No, but I say things like that to plant an
image in your mind. That statement is
the complete opposite of a black, shiny,
pretty Thoroughbred isn’t it? Your first
horse is like training wheels. Most of us
don’t have the first bike we ever learned
to ride. And most of us don’t have the
first horse we ever bought. Some do, but
most don’t. So I know this sounds kind
of cold, and maybe even heartless, but
I tell people, don’t plan on keeping the
first horse you ever buy to learn how to
ride on.
Look at it like a transaction of confidence. The horse is supposed to give
you confidence on how to ride. When
you outgrow his ability and talent, you
upgrade to a slightly better
horse. Then you sell your
first horse to another beginner who will love him, take
care of him, and in return,
he will build their confidence and give them enjoyment while riding a horse.
So please, be careful
when you go to buy your
first horse. Take somebody
with you that has a significant level of experience and
can help guide you in the
Certainly not the right horse (yet)
process. Don’t buy a horse
for a first time horse owner!
based on emotions. Instead,
buy a horse based on what
Everybody is fooled by prettiness.
your needs are. One thing is for sure,
Don’t buy your first horse because he’s
buying a horse with emotions will get
pretty. Buy your first horse based on the
you into trouble every single time.
needs that you have at that particular
point, which, if you’re a beginner, is a
safe, quiet, respectful and honest horse.
Horses like this are usually over 10 years
of age, and usually, they aren’t the prettiest things in the world.
No Worries Journal | 3
Ask Clinton
Posted by SassyMustang:
Has anyone found a good way to introduce
your horse to traffic? My barn has cars coming and going, but it’s always different since
they know to slow down verses cars out on
the open road that speed by at like 55 mph.
I would like to eventually take my horse
on rides next to a busy street and etc., but
I’m not planning on doing this until I know
that she is safe in other smaller areas, like my
barn, since she loves to spook at stupid stuff
every now and then.
But I think my main fears on the road are
the huge 18 wheelers and those loud Harley
bikes. Do any of you guys have any advice on
how to get your horse ready for something
like that?
That’s a great question, and you know
what? You’re really using your head here,
Janine. You know that you have to expose
your horse to these types of things in a
controlled environment first, like the barn.
When the horse gets better at the barn, then
you take him to a slightly busier area. So
you’re on the right track.
I recommend that you start out by riding your horse around the barn and the car
park with cars coming in and out. Move your
horse’s feet around. The Bending Exercise,
serpentines, circles—these are all great exercises to make the horse’s feet move and
change directions. Remember, if you make a
horse’s feet move forwards, backwards, left
and right, he will use the thinking side of his
brain. Once the horse is comfortable with
cars passing him around the barn, move on
to the next step.
Take the horse to a dirt road, or some back
country road where there’s not a lot of traffic, and get two or three of your friends to
drive past you as you walk down the road.
Have the cars come past you slowly at first,
in both directions. If your horse spooks,
shies or acts silly, bend him around and move
his feet. Then as the horse starts progressing
(he’s ignoring the cars and has his attention
on you), have the cars come by faster going
10 mph. Then have the cars pass you going
15 mph and then 20 mph. You slowly build
up the speed which the horse can handle the
cars going past.
Another great place to desensitize your
horse to traffic is an open area like a big pasture or field. Get a couple of your friends to
go around on motorbikes or cars and then
follow them. Any time you follow something
that your horse is normally frightened of, it
doesn’t take long for him to get confident
about it because that scary object is going
away from him instead of chasing him. You
could put two or three kids in the back of a
pickup and have the pickup drive past you
at 10 mph and have the kids yelling and
screaming. Basically, use your imagination
here. Desensitize your horse in a controlled
environment first and progressively build
to riding him next to a busy road with a lot
of traffic. If you want more ideas, refer back
to the Correcting Problems on the Trail DVD
Series, there’s lots of great information on
that series that tells you how to get your
horse used to traffic in easy to understand,
step-by-step solutions.
A lot of trail riders swear by the Spookless
CDs. They’re audio CDs that have all kinds
of different sounds on them from semi
trailer air brakes going off to wheels screeching. You can play the CDs in the barn and
get your horse desensitize to the noise of
some of these objects before you take him
anywhere.
Now, anytime I’m riding along a highway,
or a road with a lot of traffic, I’m not on the
road. I try to get off the road and ride beside it—there’s no doubt about that. Use
some judgment here. I don’t want you on, or
right beside the road, within 2 feet of where
a car is going 55 mph. That’s just asking for
trouble. You don’t want your horse to get
frightened and then run straight into traffic.
Often though, you’ll find that the horse will
always jump away from the car rather than
towards it. But again, use your head and
keep you and your horse safe.
The biggest thing to remember when your
horse is spooking at anything is that once
you feel safe and secure in the saddle, go
back to moving his feet and getting him to
use the thinking side of his brain. Just don’t
let the horse stand there forever, once you
get control, move his feet around.
Start desensitizing your horse in a controlled environment like an arena and the
car park at your barn, and then go to a slightly less controlled environment and gradually
build up to riding your horse along a busy
road with cars going by at 55 mph. You can
simulate a lot of this stuff in a safe environment so that when you get your horse into
the battlefield, he’ll do much, much better
with it. Best of luck to you Janine, and your
horsemanship.
Posted by Sumnert:
We all know that Clinton does a lot of desensitizing (remember the leaf blower?), but
there are some clinicians that actually believe you can over desensitize your horse. The
danger, they assert, is your horse won’t react
quickly enough on the trail should you run
into something that you really need to avoid.
What would you say to these assertions
and why?
Well, personally, I don’t believe that you
can over-desensitize your horse whatsoever.
Now, let me explain something a little bit
here. People confuse over-desensitizing with
having a horse that is lazy or disrespectful.
They are two separate things.
When I desensitize a horse, I teach the
horse to stand still and relax, and use the
thinking side of his brain anytime an ob-
ject scares him or potentially would scare
him. An object is anything that doesn’t live
in your horse’s stall or pasture. Horses especially hate objects that move and make a
noise. If an object lives in your horse’s stall
or pasture, why is it no longer an object?
It’s no longer an object because your horse
spends so much time around it that he becomes familiar with it. Basically, unless the
whole world is your horse’s pasture, there
are a lot of things in the world he is going to
be scared of.
We’re never going to be able to teach a
horse to not be frightened of everything in
the world. It doesn’t matter how much desensitizing we do, there are always going
to be things that frighten our horses. Now,
it doesn’t bother me if my horse ever gets
frightened when I’m out on the trail or in
the arena. What bothers me is if the horse
gets frightened, uses the reactive side of his
brain, and then continues to take matters
into his own hands. That’s when he runs,
bolts, rears, etc. Anytime my horse gets
frightened, I try to counter-condition him.
I say to him, “If you get frightened, you
need to do these two things. First of all, stop
moving your feet. Second of all, relax and
use the thinking side of your brain.” That’s
the opposite of what Mother Nature says.
Mother Nature says, “Hey, listen, Mr. Ed.
If you get frightened, don’t be stupid. Run!
Move your feet.”
Remember, horses have a flight or fight
reaction. Flight is run. They’d rather run
from danger. If they can’t run from danger,
their only other option is to fight. So Mother
Nature says, “Are you stupid? Don’t stand
still. The lions will get you.”
We’re trying to say, “Listen, everything
your mother taught you when you were born
is wrong. Don’t ever listen to your mother.
She was on crack and she was drinking when
she had you. If you want to get away from
something that is bothering you, stand still
and relax. When you stand still and relax,
whatever is frightening you will actually go
away.”
I do a lot of desensitizing because I’m basically teaching the horse to use the thinking
side of his brain in a natural environment
where he would normally want to use the
reactive side of his brain. It’s no different
to people. If you’re in different divisions of
the army, a fire fighter or a search and rescue
person, all of these types of jobs, they teach
you not to panic when you would normally
want to panic.
Let me give you an example. A lot of people drown if their car goes off of a bridge into
water. They drown unnecessarily because
they panic. They can’t open the car door because of all the water pushing against the
door, so they start panicking. When they
panic they start making worse and worse
choices. Well, if you’re in any of those special
groups, they put you in situations like this
Questions from the NoWorriesClub.com Forums
Mindy, she might initially jump or
spook, but then she better stand
still. When she stands still, she
may still be a little bit frightened of
whatever just happened, but she’s
choosing to wait for me to tell her
what to do. If it’s a lion, I might say,
“OK, Mindy, let’s turn and run, and
let’s get out of here.”
Or, if it’s just a deer, I’ll say, “OK,
it’s alright, no need to panic.”
I want the horse to give me the
Desensitizing in the round pen at Road to the Horse.
option to say, “Hey, we need to
to teach you how to get yourself out of the
turn, bolt and run.” Or, “We need to stand
situation without panicking.
still and relax.”
It’s just like when there’s a fire. If there’s
I think most horses are plenty smart
a fire in a building someone says, “There’s a
enough where they can figure out if they refire. Everyone needs to get out of the buildally need to turn and bolt, or if they need to
ing, don’t panic—remain calm.”
just stand still. Let’s face facts. Ninety-nine
What does everybody do? They trample
percent of things that horses think are goeach other to death, yell, scream, pee their
ing to hurt them are never going to hurt
pants and run like hell. Why, because they
them. Seriously, how many people have you
panic and use the reactive side of their
seen being attacked by a mountain lion on a
brains.
horse? Very rare isn’t it? I’m not going to say
So I take horses and desensitize them
that it’s never happened, but it’s rare.
to experiences that they would normally
If a car is coming around the corner and
want to run and react to. I teach them not
it’s going to run into your horse, your horse
to run and react, but to stand still and reis going to jump out of the road. Honestly,
lax. Basically, I’m counter-conditioning their
I have to say this, if your horse isn’t that
minds.
bright, he deserves to run into it anyway.
At one of my colt starting clinics, a guy
Horses are not stupid. You have to give them
asked me a question that I thought was one
more credit than what most people give
of the best questions I’ve ever heard. He said,
them. They’re smart enough to figure all of
“Clinton, you know how we’re doing all of
this out.
this desensitizing with the stick and string
I’ve heard certain clinicians talk about
and the plastic bag, and we hit the ground
over desensitizing. I personally just don’t bewith the bag a hundred million times until
lieve in it myself. Again, you’ll often find that
the horse stands still and relaxes?
people who say that are usually very good
“How is this going to help us in the real
riders, and they don’t care if their horse is a
world? In the real world, whatever scares
little spooky because when the horse reacts
your horse doesn’t normally hang around
or panics, they have good enough balance
enough for the horse to relax. It’s not like a
and ability to stay on the horse.
deer runs out in front of your horse, scares
Most of my customers, as a general rule,
your horse to death, jumps up and down on
aren’t the greatest riders in the world. So I
the same spot for 10 minutes, waits until the
need to make sure that I teach them habits
horse relaxes and stands still and then runs
to get their horses extra super quiet. That
off and says, ‘OK, Clinton, see ya tomorrow.’
way, if the horse does get frightened, he’s
“The deer jumps out of the bushes, scares
not going to dump the rider on his head and
your horse half to death and keeps running.
then take off running back to the barn.
How is this going to help?”
What I do believe is that you can teach
I thought that was a very good question
your horse not to be sensitized enough.
because he was absolutely right. What deThat happens when you let the horse get fat,
sensitizing does is when that deer jumps
lazy and disrespectful and don’t make him
out in front of your horse, the horse is still
go forward. Remember, you have to balance
going to get spooked and scared. But, after
desensitizing with sensitizing. If you only
he initially gets spooked or scared, he has a
sensitize your horse, he’s going to get hot,
choice. His choice is to either keep being renervous and always be looking for someactive and move his feet—run, rear, bolt or
thing to spook at. You have to balance the
take off, or stop moving his feet and wait for
two. If you balance the two, you’ll never run
us to tell him what to do.
into any trouble.
What we’re doing is teaching the horse
It’s just like when I imprint a foal. The first
that anytime he feels panicked, the quick48 hours with a foal is basically spent desenest way to get rid of what is bothering him
sitizing him to humans and objects. After
is to stand still. Well, like anything you do
48 hours I start to sensitize the foal. I flex
with horses, if you do it with enough repetihis head and neck, yield his hindquarters,
tion and consistency, that’s usually what the
and back him up a couple of steps. If I only
horse adopts. If a deer jumps out in front of
desensitize and never sensitize him, within
one week, he’s going to start nipping, biting
and pushing me around. When a horse no
longer has fear, he starts to get disrespectful
because horses love to dominate things. So
what we need to do is teach that foal that he
doesn’t need to be frightened of us but he
does need to be respectful of us. You need
to balance that by getting control of his feet.
How do you do that? By moving his feet forwards, backwards, left and right.
I like to think that I’m the King of
Desensitizing. At this year’s Road to the
Horse Colt Starting competition, I fired
guns off of my horse, shot balloons off of
him, stood on his back with a loud chainsaw
and leaf blower going, and I cracked a stock
whip from his back. I don’t know anything
else you could do to a horse to get him any
quieter in three hours, than what I did to
that colt.
Now, I didn’t win the event because I
made a mistake. I thought the judges were
looking for a really quiet, well-broke horse
that the average backyard horseman could
ride. I don’t think they were looking for that.
Looking back on it, I think they were looking for a horse that was more like a ranch
broke horse that a cowboy could get on and
go gather some cattle on.
A lot of people ask me why I did all of that
desensitizing and if I really do all of that
with my own horses? No, I don’t go to that
extreme with my own horses. I don’t get
the leaf blower or chainsaw out everyday.
Remember something, when I’m in public,
I’m training a horse, but I’m also trying to
inspire people, and get people to use their
imaginations. Your imagination is one of
your greatest tools when training your
horse, so use it.
When I did Road to the Horse it was a
competition, and I did my best to win, don’t
get me wrong, but I was also trying to educate people about what I was doing to the
horse as I was doing it. There were a lot of
crazy things I did at this year’s event. I had
rope on the horse’s legs, a cow bell hanging
around his neck and pool noodles hanging
off his side. I was trying to show the audience that there’s no limit to what you can do.
As long as you do it safely and you don’t get
hurt and your horse doesn’t get hurt, there’s
no limit to what you can do, so open up your
minds. Use your imagination. I think some
people appreciate what I did, and I think a
lot of people just didn’t understand where I
was going with it.
But the short answer to your question is
no, I don’t think you can over-desensitize
your horse. I think you can desensitize and
not do enough sensitizing. So some people
may classify that as over-desensitizing. If
you sensitize and desensitize, your horse
will remain balanced, and that’s what you’re
looking for.
Great question Antony—I hope this helps
you with your horses.
How much is too much?
Am I doing enough?
These are probably the most common questions I get in training horses. I’m
just going to give you general rule of thumb guidelines here because honestly,
there’s really no right or wrong answer.
Q: How long do you ride or train on a horse?
A: If I’m riding a horse or training him, I try to tell people that I do groundwork for roughly half an hour to 45 minutes and then ride for anywhere from
45 minutes to an hour. Now, during that hour and a half the horse isn’t always moving. I’m constantly stopping him and resting him, doing some desensitizing and letting him get some air back. Of course, I do have to work
some horses a little harder, especially if they are being a problem, or if they
have excess energy. On the other hand, horses that are fat and lazy and aren’t
physically fit, I might be done with of them within an hour if I feel like they’re
too tired. You have to use some judgment.
When a horse gets out of air you have to let him stop and regain it. A horse
has a gas tank, and at the beginning of every lesson it is set on full. There’s
only a certain amount of fuel in the tank. When your horse runs out of fuel
for that day, you have to let him rest to rebuild that fuel.
Sometimes I work a horse that’s giving me problems two times a day. If I’m
not happy with the morning training session, I hose the horse off, tie him
up, give him a small drink and then go ahead and work him again later in the
afternoon.
The worse the horse’s attitude is, the more I work him. The better attitude
he has and the more he tries, the less I work him. I show the horse that with
a good attitude he gets less work, and with a bad attitude he gets more work.
I make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy. That’s a good rule
of thumb to follow.
As a general observation, after watching people over the past 15 years,
most people have a tendency to under work their horses and over feed them.
You could put me out of business tomorrow if you fed your horses less and
worked them harder.
Q: When do I end a training session?
A: Always end on a good note. If you’re not having any success at a particular exercise and you know you have to quit to go to work or something, stop
what you’re doing, and then do something you know the horse can do well.
That way, you’re finishing on something the horse is listening to and he’s
performing well.
Don’t finish a training session with the horse doing something bad because
that’s what he’s going to remember the next day. Now, I’m not going to say
that there aren’t times when I have had to stop training a horse that I really
wanted to keep going. Sometimes I have to quit on a note that I wasn’t as
pleased with. That does happen from time to time. Not very often, but it
does happen. Usually, it happens to me at expos or at competitions like Road
to the Horse. Sometimes, you have to quit when you really wouldn’t want to
because it’s a timed event.
As a general rule, I really
try to ask myself, “How much
time do I have to train the
horse today?” I’m not going to
pick a subject that could take
all of that time up or more
time if I don’t have that long
to work with the horse.
A lot of people say that time
shouldn’t matter when you’re
training a horse, but the reality is that time does matter.
Unless you have nothing to
do and all day to do it in, you
need to get the most out of
each training session that you
possibly can. Always try to
finish when you’re the leader
and the horse is listening and using the thinking side
of his brain.
Q: How do I know if I’m doing enough?
A: Basically, as long as the horse is making an improvement everyday, you’re on the right track. The more
consistent you are, the better. Remember, consistency
is your greatest ally, and inconsistency is your greatest
enemy. And horses learn with lots of repetition.
I like people to work with their horses a minimum
of five days a week, preferably six days. I realize everybody has jobs and hobbies and business things that stop
them from working with their horses as much as they
want. Even if you can only ride your horse two or three
days a week, try to make it two or three days in a row
rather than every other day. When you do your training sessions in succession, the horse remembers the
lessons so much more and progresses much quicker.
If you work the horse on Monday and don’t work him
until Thursday, and then don’t work him again until
Saturday, he will forget too much of the information in
between the sessions.
You send kids to school five days a week because kids
learn best with consistent repetition. When they learn
the information, the teacher gives them new information to learn. It takes roughly 12 years for a kid to graduate from grade one to grade 12, going to school five
days a week. If you sent that kid to school twice a week
instead of five times a week, could he still graduate? Yes,
but it would take him a lot longer. He’d be 50 before he
would graduate. Do you get my point?
People ask me all the time, “I can only ride my horse
once or twice a week, can I still make improvement?”
Sure they can, but the improvement is a lot slower
compared to working with the horse five days a week.
The unfortunate part about horses is this—you’re going
to get out of horses what you put into them. If you put
in a lot, you get out a lot. If you put in very little, you
get out very little.
Lots of people don’t like me saying this, but this is the
truth. A lot of people like what I do because I tell the
truth. The truth is not always necessarily fun to hear,
and the truth is also not always complimentary, but it is
the truth. The bottom line is this—if your horse is riding well, behaving himself, being respectful and doing
a really good job, it’s because you’re doing a great job
of training him. If your horse is riding badly, being disrespectful and giving you problems, it’s because you’re
doing a sorry job of training him.
By changing your own habits first (you obviously are
if you’re reading this) your horse will change. If you
change your attitude towards your horse and work on
improving your ability, your horse will change. But,
your horse won’t change first. Horses are nothing more
than byproducts of their owners. If you’re a good horseman or horsewoman, your horse will be a good horse.
If you’re a sorry horseman or horsewoman, your horse
will act badly.
Q: How can I tell if my horse can’t handle
anymore?
A: You can tell that your horse can’t handle anymore
of a training session when his performance gets worse.
If I’ve been riding a horse and he’s done really well, but
now I feel like things are getting worse and worse, well, I
have obviously peaked the horse. Now things are on the
downhill slide. Every horse has a peak in his training
session everyday.
You’re not trying to perfect every lesson everyday,
you’re just trying to make it a little bit better. If the
horse is better today than yesterday—quit—you’ve
done your job. Or, if you don’t want to quit, move on
to a different exercise. Don’t keep drilling and drilling
on the same exercise until the horse absolutely hates
it. Work on the exercise, make it better than yesterday,
and then quit. Everyday I want that horse’s ability in
that particular lesson to increase.
element in there which is variety. Variety is what? It’s
the spice of life. But if there is too much variety and
not enough consistency, the horse will never remember
anything. Too much consistency without any variety,
well, that just gets boring doesn’t it? So keep that in
mind. You want consistency, but you also want to add
enough variety to keep it interesting. Too much variety
and the horse will never learn anything. Too much consistency and he gets bored and resentful. Try to balance
the two together. Your imagination is your greatest tool
in training your horse, so use it.
Q: How many exercises should I do in one
session?
A: No, but I’ve met millions of people who didn’t want
to be trained. Every horse is capable of being trained.
Now, to what level and how good that horse can get obviously has a lot of variables. I would ask you this, is
every human being as smart as each other. Does every
human being have the same athletic ability? Does every human being have a great work ethic? As varied as
all the answers are to those questions, it goes the same
with training horses. Now sure, some horses are much
harder to train than others, especially horses that have
been bad for many years and have ingrained habits. So
depending on your level of experience and ability will
greatly affect what problems you can fix and how easily
you can fix them.
A: When I’m training a horse on the ground, I usually
try to do three to four different groundwork exercises.
When I say different ones, I mean that I usually spend
between one to four sessions doing the same groundwork exercise.
The first time you teach a horse to do something on
the ground or under saddle, usually, it’s not going to
be very good. It’s what I call the concept lesson. We’re
not after perfection, we’re just getting the horse to understand the concept. The second day he’s usually a lot
better at it, and on the third day, he is really quite good
at it. And by the fourth day, he acts like he’s an expert
at it. At that point, I will usually teach him something
new. Variety is very important when it comes to training horses.
Most horses can do the exercises well after four days
of consistent training. If the horse isn’t real bright, it
might take five to six days. Once the horse learns the exercise, try to show him something different. If you stay
with the same exercise too much, some horses can get
resentful and sour about it because they’re bored. It’d
be like me making you repeat the alphabet five times a
day, everyday for the rest of your life. Once kids learn
the alphabet, what do teachers do? They don’t make
them recite it anymore. They move on and start to teach
the children small words like but, can and will. And then
once they learn the small words, they start giving the
kids bigger words—four and five letter words. You get
my drift?
Other people ask me, “Clinton, if I have a smart horse,
do I keep progressing it?” Sure you do. If I have a really
smart horse, I don’t keep him back because the other
horses aren’t as smart as him. I keep moving him forward as long as I’m not physically hurting the horse. All
horses learn at different speeds. So, if I have one that
catches on quickly, sure I’m going to keep giving him
new challenges and ideas to think about.
Consistency is your greatest ally and inconsistency is
your greatest enemy, but you also have to add one more
Q: Have you ever met a horse you couldn’t
train?
Q: What type of horse should I start to learn
the Downunder Horsemanship techniques
with?
A: I try to tell people—try to pick a horse that will
help you learn and build your confidence as opposed to
one that wants to wreck your confidence and intimidate
you (a real problem horse). I have people walk up to me
all the time and say, “Well, Clinton, I’m really going to
put your methods to the test. I have this 23-year-old
broodmare that has had 11 owners, killed three people
and will kick your head off. If your methods will work
on her, you’ve turned me into a believer.”
To learn on a horse like this is just plain stupid. It
would be no different than if I wanted to take boxing
lessons. I’m not going to pick Mike Tyson as my boxing
partner because all he’s going to do is beat the snot out
of me, intimidate me, make me cry, and I’m going to
soon want to give up my new boxing career. If I’m smart,
I’m going to find some guy that’s smaller and weedier
than me, that I can beat the snot out of, feel good about
myself and raise my confidence level in boxing. As my
skills develop I’ll start picking fights with people a little
bit bigger, more skilled, more experienced and hopefully win those fights as well. Until eventually, one day,
after I’ve been practicing my new boxing skills for a long
time, I might pick a fight with a guy that’s twice my size
and even though I may not have the physical strength
of him, hopefully, I’ll have the experience, talent, skill
level and techniques to beat him as well.
There’s nothing to be ashamed of in saying that some
horses are just out of your experience level. Has this
happened to me before? Sure it has. There were several
horses from when I was 15 to 20 that got the better of
me. They out smarted me, they out maneuvered me, and
I didn’t really train them to the level I really wanted to.
Why? Because at that stage of my career I didn’t have
enough experience to train those horses to the level I
wanted to. Now, 10 years later, I would love to get those
horses back. Because now, I really do have the experience, technique and the ability to fix those horses to the
level that I wanted to.
I very rarely tell anybody to get rid of a horse mainly
because I think a lot of people use this as crutch to hide
the fact that they need to change their own skills first.
The exception to that is if I feel like a human being, or
the horse, may get really hurt, then I’ll tell them that
they should not train their horse or they should get rid
of the horse. Remember, it is the human being’s safety
first, and then it’s the horse’s safety—in that order. I
don’t want to get hurt, and I don’t want my horse to get
hurt. But remember, you can’t train the horse if you’re
dead. You have to survive the experience first and then
train the horse.
Q: When can I start doing the groundwork
with my foal?
A: The answer is as soon as he is born. I’m a big believer in Dr. Robert Miller’s imprinting procedure, and I’m
a huge believer in getting foals to be respectful—not
fearful—and to teach them how to yield to pressure at
a very young age. The only thing different I do with my
foals is I’m very conscious of their physical ability. Most
exercises are done at a walk because foals have a tendency to tire very quickly. So I do find that smaller but
more frequent training sessions often work better.
I suspect it’s not unlike most young children, they
can’t handle the workload adults do. I tell people, “Don’t
wait until the horse is 1000 pounds, rearing up, biting
you, dragging you around, and then you have to bring
the horse to one of my clinics or tours, and ask me to
fix him. Prevention is always better than cure. I highly
recommend for any horses under 2 years of age that you
get our Handling Foals, Weanlings and Yearlings DVD.
It goes for over 11 hours, and will show you all of the
techniques I do with my young horses. I love working
with foals because they learn so quickly. Channel their
energy in the right direction because believe me, if you
don’t, they’ll channel it themselves in the wrong direction. Foals are just like little kids, they have an abundance of energy. So do something productive with it.
I highly recommend for any
horses under
2 years of age
that you get our
Handling Foals,
Weanlings and
Yearlings DVD
series.
Before
Katy, Texas
Trailer Loading
Horse
and After
In front of a sell-out
crowd of 3,800 people
in Katy, Texas, all eyes
were on Katherine
Hicks as she tried to
load Fancy, her 7-yearold mare, onto the
trailer parked in the
middle of the arena.
Facing the mare and
holding on to the lead
rope with both hands,
Katherine tried pulling
her into the trailer.
Fancy braced her front
feet and lifted her head
in protest.
When she came to the tour, Fancy wouldn’t be pulled, chased
or even scared into a trailer.
“Pull, pull, keep p-u-l-l-i-n-g!” Clinton shouted to her.
Katherine already knew that pulling wasn’t the answer to
getting Fancy onto the trailer. She’d given up on that method
long ago. In fact, there wasn’t too much she hadn’t tried to
get the gray mare onto trailers. She’d tried chasing her, lungeing her, putting a chain on her, scaring her with a lunge whip,
and in one desperate moment, her fellow boarders had tried
tossing rocks at the mare. None of it had worked, Katherine
knew there must be a better way.
Since getting Fancy, a registered Iberian Sport Horse, four
years ago, loading the mare on trailers has been a nightmare
for the high school student. Fancy came to Katherine as an unstarted 3-year-old from a woman who kept the mare turned
out in a field. Katherine, who has been riding since she was in
the second grade, put the mare into dressage training.
She keeps Fancy at a local boarding barn where she is surrounded by other dressage enthusiasts who travel the same
show circuit. A successful team, Katherine and Fancy earned
Reserve Champion honors in First Level Jr/Yr at the USDF
Region 9 Championships last year, but her parents had to buy
a trailer because, “No one wanted to wait around for hours
after the shows for Fancy to decide to load. Of course, we’re
always the last ones to leave,” Katherine said laughing.
Fancy’s trailer loading troubles all came to a head in early
December of last year when Katherine was supposed to take
the gray mare into school for her FFA Equine Science class.
She tried everything to get Fancy into the trailer, but nothing
worked. Finally, frustrated and worn out, Katherine left the
barn in tears and skipped school.
At home, she went straight to her computer and began
surfing the internet. “I remembered a lady at the barn saying
something about this trainer and clinician who was amazing
at helping problem horses,” Katherine said. “She had told me
that I should check him out, so that’s what I did.”
When Katherine found the Downunder Horsemanship
web site, she saw that Clinton was looking for a demo horse
for his trouble free trailer loading demonstration. “I didn’t
even think twice,” Katherine said, “I filled out the form online
and submitted it.”
Once Clinton, armed with a pink Handy-Stick, rescued her
from the limelight and got down to business, Katherine soaked
in everything he had to say. Within 25 minutes, Fancy was using the thinking side of her brain, and shortly after that, the
mare was loading calmly and willingly into the trailer.
Katherine, who was already impressed with Clinton’s horsemanship skills before the trailer loading demo, bought the first
series of Gaining Respect and Control on the Ground, a halter
and lead rope, a Handy-Stick and two of the Aussie Tie Rings.
Although Katherine has been busy with school and hasn’t
been able to work with Fancy as much as she would like, she
has found some time to apply Clinton’s methods to her mare.
“The first few weeks after the tour I did nothing but
Clinton’s groundwork exercises—moving her feet and disengaging her hindquarters,” Katherine said. “She is much more
respectful of my space and has learned that I am the ‘lead
mare’ per say.
Katherine has decided to reprioritize what she does with
Fancy this year and has placed more emphasis on horsemanship than dressage.
“I’m not going to show this year,” Katherine said, “but I am
still riding.”
In fact, Katherine is “contemplating a switch to western—
most likely reining—simply because [she] is ready for something new.”
“I try to incorporate Clinton’s methods into our everyday
routine. For example, I disengage her hindquarters to get her
straight in the cross ties, or I wiggle the lead rope to back her
up into the wash rack.
“As far as getting her on a trailer, I have been less successful
than I had hoped. I can’t lie and say she’s been perfect. But
Clinton made a big deal about mastering the groundwork and
then everything else will come easy, so that’s what I reverted
back to.
“It still takes me a while to get her on the trailer, but using
his method, each time I do get her on, I know that she is doing so out of respect and not fear,” Katherine explained and
then added, “Every time it gets a little easier so I know we are
headed in the right direction.
“And yes, we’re going to try it again. At the end of the year,
I’m hoping to take her to school for my Equine Science Final
Exam period. Clinton’s work has made a big difference in
both me and Fancy, so this should be a much more successful
trip to school.”
Within 25 minutes or so, Fancy was using the thinking side of
her brain, and loading calmly and willingly into the trailer.
Teach Your Horse to
Lie Down
Encourage your horse to use
the thinking side of his brain
by teaching him to lie down. There are two ways to control a horse and get him to use the thinking side of his
brain. You can control a horse by controlling the direction of his movement through groundwork by making
him move forwards, backwards, left and right and always
rewarding the slightest try. Most of my exercises focus
on that concept, but you can also get a horse to use the
thinking side of his brain by inhibiting his movement,
which is showing the horse that you can take his legs
away from him. A horse’s legs are the most important
things in his life because without them, he can’t run
from predators. Remember, horses are prey animals and
have a flight or fight reaction. They would always rather
run away from danger instead of fighting it.
Goal
While there are progressive steps involved in teaching your horse to lie down, eventually, you want to just
pick up the horse’s front hoof with your hand and pull it
back towards his hindquarters and have him lay down.
Any breed, age or size of horse can be taught to lie
down. All horses are capable of it, but some horses will
resist the initial teaching stage more than others simply
because some horses have more of that flight or fight
reaction when their legs are taken away from them.
Why
Teaching a horse to lie down will get him to use the
thinking side of his brain which will get him to relax and
calm down. Remember, since horses are a prey animal
and have that flight or fight reaction, they would always
rather run from danger. If they can’t run from danger,
the only other option they have is to fight. Anytime you
take a prey animal’s legs away from him, he is going to
panic and use the reactive side of his brain.
If you can show your horse that you can take his legs
away from him without harming him, you’ll strengthen
your relationship. I’m going to show you, step-by-step,
how to take a horse’s legs away from him in a non-aggressive way. We’re not trying to flip him over or beat
him up. We’re basically teaching him that we are the
leader, and we can take his legs away from him. It really
humbles a horse and quiets him down. It gets him using
the thinking side of his brain and makes him a lot more
submissive. Remember, when a horse is laying down, he
is in his most vulnerable position. Horses never lie down
unless they feel absolutely comfortable and safe. Every
time you lay your horse down, you will rub him and desensitize him to your hands and other objects, and you
won’t allow him to get up until he relaxes. When you do
finally allow the horse to get up, he will have a whole
new sense of respect and trust for you. In his mind he’s
saying, “Oh, my gosh, you had me down on the ground.
It would have been so easy for you to eat me, but instead,
you rubbed and soothed me and made me feel good. You
must truly not be one of those predators.”
Every time a horse lies down and then gets back up,
you are teaching him that you are not out to get him,
you’re not out to hurt him or cause him any pain. Now
of course, horses learn through repetition so the more
times you lay them down, the easier it should be each
time and the more relaxing the experience will be for
the horse.
Preparation is the key
Like anything you do, there’s risk involved in laying
a horse down. I’ve already said that anytime you take a
prey animal’s legs away from him, he’s going to fight initially until he learns to be submissive and use the thinking side of his brain. Could the horse hit his head on the
ground or fall over backwards? Sure he could. You can’t
eliminate all the possible things that could go wrong.
However, if you use the steps I describe below and carefully prepare your horse, the process should go smoothly. On the other hand, if you don’t follow the steps and
don’t prepare you horse, and then take his legs away
from him, of course he’s going to fight and struggle.
Before you begin, your horse should have a solid foundation of groundwork on him and understand how to
yield to pressure. Groundwork teaches a horse to be respectful of you and use the thinking side of his brain.
When you go to lay your horse down, you don’t want
him to use the reactive side of his brain, because that
is what will make him struggle and fight. Your horse
should know all of the exercises from Gaining Respect
and Control on the Ground Series I, II and III. The more you
can get the horse to use the thinking side of his brain,
the better. You’ll be more successful and the horse will
put up less resistance.
I also recommend watching Hobbling and Leg Restraints
several times and being really clear on what you’re trying to do and what you should expect of your horse.
The series will teach you how to hobble your horse, lead
him by his legs and lay him down. It’s important that
your horse knows how to give to pressure around his
legs before you teach him to lie down. When your horse
feels pressure around his legs, instead of fighting it, he
will relax and submit to it. He has to know that fighting isn’t the answer and he can’t get rid of the pressure
around his legs by struggling. Instead, standing still and
relaxing makes the pressure go away. I always teach my
horses to hobble and lead them by their feet first before
laying them down.
Anyone can teach their horse to lie down, but it requires a lot of feel, timing and knowing when to release
pressure. It’s important to remember that you’re not
trying to wrestle or force the horse to the ground. Be
realistic about your ability. If you’re relatively new to
the horse industry and have very little experience, wait
until you have some experience, achieved a reasonable
level of groundwork with your horse and can move his
feet forwards, backwards, left and right and then you’ll
be in a lot better shape. Preparation is the key. Do the
groundwork and get the horse using the thinking side
of his brain and break it into steps.
If you don’t have good enough feel and timing to teach
your horse correctly, you may want to get someone who is
a little bit more advanced and has a good sense of feel and
timing. If you release the pressure just a little bit when
the horse is struggling, you’ll find that the next time you
go to lay him down, he’ll fight twice as much because he’ll
be looking for that release you gave him before.
Getting Started
Do this exercise in a place with soft ground. A round
pen with soft dirt is an ideal place because if the horse
goes to run, he can’t get away from you. Be sure the area
you lay him down in doesn’t have sharp rocks or anything that will hurt him. I teach all of my horses to lie
down in a 50 foot round pen that has soft arena dirt or
sand in it. You’ll need a lariat, a rope halter, a 14-foot
lead, and a pair of gloves to protect your hands.
Teaching Stage
1.
Put the loop of the lariat around one of the horse’s
front pasterns so that it rests just above the hoof and
below his ankle.
2.
Pull and release on the lariat to get the horse to give
to pressure. Continue to pull and release until he immediately picks his foot up when he feels pressure. When
you pull on the rope, you want the horse to pick his leg
up and when he does, you’ll release the pressure. By doing this several times, your horse will understand that
the rope is not trying to hurt him. It just picks his hoof
up and as soon as he does, the pressure goes away.
3.
Slide the rest of the lariat over the horse’s back and
under his belly so there’s a loop around his belly where
the girth would be.
4.
Drape the lead rope from the halter over your elbow, and practice lifting the horse’s leg up and down by
applying pressure to the lariat. Your horse should readily give to the pressure. This is where preparation comes
into play. If you’ve done the groundwork with the horse
and have taught him how to yield to pressure, the horse
should instantly pick his foot up.
5.
Pull the horse’s front foot up, as close to his belly
as possible, and wrap the lariat once around the foot.
Then you’re going to make two half hitches, and you
want them to be tight. (See the side bar illustration).
The horse’s hoof should be as close to his belly as possible. You want to do this kind of quick because at this
point, you’re already committed to it. If the horse goes
to struggle, you’re right there next to him and in a position where you could potentially get hurt if he would
react violently and panic.
6.
As soon as you get the second half hitch on, you
want to step back away from the horse, straight out
from his shoulder. Once you get in that position, and
you’re away from the horse, just let him stand there for
a few seconds.
At this point, the horse may start to struggle and
move his leg. He may jump forward in a circle around
you, or possibly, even rear up slightly. Just ignore all of
this. This is just the horse trying to figure out what he
is supposed to do. As long as you aren’t close to him,
you’re in no danger of getting hurt. Remember, the
horse struggling is not necessarily bad. We just want
him to realize that struggling is the wrong answer. The
only way he’ll figure that out is struggling and not being
relieved of any of that pressure.
7.
Then position yourself so that you’re facing the
horse’s shoulder at a 45 degree angle. Don’t stand in
front of the horse’s shoulder, but behind his shoulder
back towards his hip at least 15 to 20 feet away from
him. The lead rope should still be draped loosely over
your elbow. The only time that you will pull on the lead
rope is if your horse takes off running.
8.
Apply pressure by pulling the lariat towards your
body. Meanwhile, you want to maintain the safe distance between you and your horse. You want to stand
back far enough so that if he would kick out, he wouldn’t
hit you. Even if the horse struggles, you want to continue to hold the pressure. At this point, you’re looking for
the horse to kneel on the ground. As soon as his front
knee touches the ground and he kneels, take the pressure away and create a bunch of slack in the lariat.
Put the loop
of the lariat
around one
of the horse’s
front pasterns
so that it rests
just above
the hoof and
below his
ankle.
If the horse stands up, as soon as his knee leaves the
ground, apply pressure to the lariat. As long as his knee
is on the ground, there shouldn’t be any pressure. The
horse can’t stay in that kneeling position very long because his back end will get really tired. He’ll either try to
stand back up or lie down. You just wait for him to find
the right answer. If he stands up, you’ll put pressure on
him, but if he kneels down, you’ll release the pressure.
Remember to just look for one step at a time and wait
for the horse to find the right answer. Eventually, the
horse will realize that it is more comfortable for him to
lie all the way down rather than kneeling on his front
leg.
9.
Now, at this point, some horses will go down relatively quickly, and others will take several minutes before they actually lay down. I can tell you that the more
preparation you do usually ensures that the horse lays
down relatively quickly. The key is you’re not trying to
make the horse lay down. All you’re doing is setting up
a situation so that laying down is the easiest solution
for the horse.
Pull and
release on
the lariat to
get the horse
to give to
pressure.
Slide the rest
of the lariat
over the
horse’s back
and under his
belly so there’s
a loop around
his belly where
the girth
would be.
Pull the horse’s
front foot up,
as close to
his belly as
possible, and
wrap the lariat
once around
the foot.
Once the horse is lying down, reward him. Walk
around behind the horse so that you’re standing next
to his back. Then rub him with your hands and lean forward and undo the half hitches around his foot and let
his leg stretch out. This is what rewards the horse, his
leg being untied. It’s important that you do this from
the horse’s back because if you do this in front of the
horse’s leg, if he would struggle or kick, he might accidentally hit your face. So use some caution when you
do this.
Some horses will still try to struggle even when they’re
on the ground. If the horse should struggle when you’re
tying to undo the rope, just take a few steps back away
from him so that way you’re not in any danger. When
he stops struggling, go back in, rub him and start undoing the rope again. Then rub all over his body. This is
a great time to desensitize your horse to touch. I love
to explore all over the horse’s body and to rub on his
face, and just make him feel good while he’s lying on the
ground. Remember to always stay behind the horse so
that if he rolled or kicked out with his legs he wouldn’t
hit you.
Usually, when horses lie down the first time they
don’t lie completely down (with their head and neck on
the ground) so you’ll have to apply pressure to the lead
rope and make the horse lay all the way down. When
the horse is on the ground, reposition the lead rope so
that it is lying on top of the horse. Then you’ll pull the
horse’s head back across his body, towards his hip, to
lay him all the way down. Once he is lying flat on the
ground, release the pressure and take the half hitches
off.
Safety first. Be sure to stand far enough away from the horse
so that if he would strike or kick, you wouldn’t get hurt.
10.
You should keep the horse on the ground 10 to 15
minutes before you ask him to get to his feet. To get the
horse to his feet, cluck and tap gently behind his withers. You don’t want him to be in a hurry to get on his
feet. Don’t let him get up when he’s worried or scared,
or have him anticipate getting up. It should be a relaxing experience. Ask the horse to sit up on his hindquarters, and then rub him for a minute or two before asking
him to get to his feet. Anytime your horse tries to get
up before you ask him, all you do is pull the halter and
lead rope across his body and flex his head. This makes
it difficult for him to want to get up. All you’re basically
doing is pulling the horse off balance.
11.
Lay the horse down twice on the same side for the
first session. You should keep the horse on the ground
10 to 15 minutes each time. You don’t want to put the
horse on the ground and then immediately let him get
back up. You want him to get very comfortable with lying on the ground. For the first three or four days only
lay him down on one side. Then when he’s comfortable
on that side you can lay him down on the other side.
Don’t be surprised when you go to lay him down on
the other side if the horse goes to struggle again because technically, you’re training a separate brain which
means a separate horse.
Rub him and desensitize him when he’s on the ground
and make sure that it is a pleasant experience. It doesn’t
hurt to also give a couple of treats to your horse when
he lies down. This is just another way to reward him for
laying down.
Common Handler Mistakes
Releasing the pressure on the lariat while the horse is
struggling.
When the horse struggles and fights against the pressure around his leg, a lot of people want to go with the
If you’ve prepared your horse correctly, he should readily
submit to pressure.
horse and soothe him. That’s the opposite of what you
want to do. You just want to hold the pressure and wait
for the horse to find the right answer. Remember, if you
prepare your horse, he should already know how to submit to pressure and use the thinking side of his brain.
Just keep in mind this one thing—all you’re doing is
setting the situation up and letting the horse figure out
the answer. You’re not trying to get into a massive fight
or tug of war with the horse. You’ll make the right thing
easy—kneeling on three legs, and the wrong thing difficult—trying to stand up.
Letting the horse get up too soon.
It’s important that you don’t let the horse get up immediately after he lies down on the ground, especially
his first time. You want the horse to relax and submit
while he is on the ground and not worry about getting
to his feet.
If your horse does try to stand up while he’s on the
ground when you’re rubbing on him, use the halter and
lead rope—that’s why they’re there. If he goes to get
up, you’ll pull the lead rope across his body. By pulling
on the lead rope, you’ll unbalance the horse and make
it uncomfortable for him to try to get up. You’re not
making the horse lay down, you’re just making it uncomfortable for him not to lie down. Every time he tries
to stand up, you put pressure on the rope until he goes
down, and then you’ll release the pressure.
Trouble Shooting Advice
For many people, the most difficult part to this exercise is the first initial lay down and waiting for their
horse to find the first step which is kneeling. A lot of
people get in a hurry and try to force the horse to the
ground. You can’t make a horse lay down, but you can
make it uncomfortable for him not to lie down. Apply
pressure and just wait for him to find the answer which
Be patient and let the horse find the right answer on
his own.
is kneeling and submitting towards the ground. The
more groundwork you do, the better.
By the time I lay a horse down, it only takes me two
minutes to put him on the ground the first time. When I
have to teach a horse that hasn’t been through the program, it might take 10 minutes of the horse running
around, rearing and really fighting before he lies down.
The more groundwork you do with the horse, the less
time it will take. Be patient with your horse because it is
very scary for him to kneel and go towards the ground
for the first time.
Success Tips
Preparation
The more you prepare, the better the experience will
be for you and your horse. For the best results, your
horse should know all of the exercises from Gaining
Respect and Control on the Ground Series I, II and III and
know how to hobble and lead by his feet—exercises that
can be found on the Hobbling and Leg Restraints DVD
Series. The horse should be respectful, know how to
yield to pressure and be able to use the thinking side of
his brain.
Timing
Teach your horse to lie down after you have worked
him on the ground or under saddle, when he wants to
stand still and have a rest. Don’t pull your horse out of
his stall or pasture and immediately tie one of his legs
up and try to get him to lie down. Do some groundwork
exercises with him and get him moving his feet forwards, backwards, left and right and using the thinking
side of his brain. If you do that, you’ll find that your
horse will be responsive and the training session will go
smoothly.
The horse is in his most vulnerable position when he’s laying
on the ground, so I spend a lot of time reassuring him, and
desensitizing him to touch.
Question: Would you ever lay a horse
down that hasn’t been through the
program?
As a general rule no. However, if a horse
is spooky, fearful or disrespectful, and I
want to get him to use the thinking side of
his brain relatively quickly, I will go ahead
and teach him to lay down. If I can’t build
a horse’s confidence quick enough during
our eight week training program, I’ll lay
him down straight off the bat. I don’t recommend people at home doing it simply
because it is harder and requires a great
deal of feel and timing to teach a horse
that doesn’t know the program how to lie
down. This situation doesn’t happen very
often, and I only do it because I’m under a
time restraint. The best advice I can give
you is to watch the process on the Hobbling
and Leg
Restraints
DVD several times
and take
notes before you try
it on your
horse.
Also see “How to Tie a Half Hitch” next page.
How to Tie a Half Hitch
The half hitch is really a cornerstone knot that forms the basis for many other knots. By itself, it is not “slipproof”, but it can handle light loads when tied properly.
Step 1
Hook your rope around
your post, tree branch,
pole, or whatever.
Step 2
Cross the short end
under the long, main
length of the rope.
Step 3
Step 4
Bring the short end over
Push the knot to the
and down through the
pole and pull to tighten.
hole between where the
rope crosses and the pole.
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Exercise Snapshot
Flower Power Exercise
This is a great steering wheel exercise and will help your horse remain soft during turns.
1 Place a bucket in the center of the
arena. The bucket represents the center
of the flower and will be your focal point.
As you go through the exercise, the bucket
will help guide you.
2 Establish the perimeter of the flower by
loping a circle around the bucket.
6 After completing the flower stop the
horse in the center (next to the bucket).
Let the horse rest in the center for five to ten
minutes. While he’s resting, flex the horse’s
head from side to side.
7 Switch directions following the same
steps described above.
Your flower can be as big or as small as you
want, but be sure that it’s large enough for
your horse to travel on a straight line before
turning and changing directions.
You can complete the exercise at the trot,
but I find that it works best at the canter,
especially if a horse is hot and nervous
and wants to run. The exercise forces the
horse to use the thinking side of his brain
because it requires him to constantly change
directions.
3 Leave the perimeter of the flower and
cut up the middle passing the bucket.
Every time you start or finish a petal, you’ll
always pass the bucket.
4 Start the first petal, turn and go straight
past the bucket again.
When the horse is on the
straight line of the petal, pitch
him away and put him on a
loose rein.
Be sure that when you do pass the
center that the horse doesn’t dive his
shoulders into the turn.
As you go into a turn, focus your eyes on
the bucket. Don’t look down at your horse,
especially in the turns.
This exercise is explained in detail in
Riding with Confidence Series III and
demonstrated in Advanced Horsemanship
5 Every time you pass the bucket, start a
new petal.
When you go past the center, keep thinking
straight until you reach the perimeter of the
flower and then ask the horse to turn.
Desensitize
Your Horse
to fly spray
People have trouble putting fly spray on their horses
stands still and relaxes.
because it’s an object that moves and makes a noise.
The number one rule to remember when using the
Why do horses hate objects that move and make a noise?
approach and retreat method is—do not take the obBecause horses are prey animals and prey animals have
ject away from the horse until his feet stand still and he
a flight or fight reaction. Their first reaction to danger is
shows a sign of relaxing. A sign of relaxing can be one of
flight, which means run. What does a horse classify as
six things, the horse licks his lips, blinks his eyes, takes
danger? The answer is anything the horse is not familiar
a big breath, cocks a hind leg, lowers his head and neck,
with. Horses would always rather run away from anyor stands still for at least 15 seconds.
thing that frightens them inIf you do take the object
stead of hanging around and
away from the horse while
fighting it. Mother Nature
I put water in a spray bottle he is moving and using the
says, “Run!”
reactive side of his brain,
If the horse can’t run away
and use it when I desensitize you’ll teach him the opposite
from danger, the only way he
of what you want. Instead of
the horse. The horse doesn’t him standing still and relaxed
can survive is to fight. He’ll
kick, bite, strike or do whatwhile you spray him with the
know the difference.
ever he can to get away from
fly spray, he’ll think the anthe danger, but his first form
swer to getting away from
of defense is to run. As a horse owner, your job is to
the fly spray is to run. Using the approach and retreat
teach your horse to use the thinking side of his brain
method, we’ll teach the horse that if he stands still and
and desensitize him to as many objects that move and
relaxes, the fly spray will go away. Remember, horses are
make a noise as possible—that includes fly spray.
a flight or fight animal. We have to constantly reinforce
Whenever we desensitize a horse to an object, we
to the horse that the answer is not to run from danger,
always use a method called approach and retreat. We
but to stand still and relax. We want the horse to think
build the horse’s confidence by approaching him with
that the only way he can feel safe is to stand still and
the object that scares him (in this case the fly spray)
relax. All of this desensitizing is a simple step-by-step
and then retreating (taking the fly spray away) when he
process.
Most people fail when it comes to putting fly spray on
their horses because they sneak up on the horse. They
walk slowly up to the horse with the spray bottle behind
their back, and then they pull the bottle out and try to
spray the horse as fast as they can. Of course the horse
gets scared and moves away. And as soon as he moves,
people stop spraying because they don’t want to waste
their fly spray. By taking the fly spray away when the
horse moves his feet, they’re teaching the horse that to
get away from the fly spray all he has to do is move which
is the complete opposite of what we want. Fly spray is
practically liquid gold. We spend an arm and a leg to buy
it, and none of us want to waste any of it. That’s why I
put water in a spray bottle and use it when I desensitize
the horse with the approach and retreat method. The
horse doesn’t know the difference. All he knows is the
spray bottle moves and makes a noise. He doesn’t care
if it’s water or fly spray in the bottle.
So anyway, since the horse keeps moving away every
time they spray, they tie the horse up. Now, because the
horse is a prey animal and has a flight or fight response,
and his ability to run has been taken away from him, his
only other option is to fight. He pulls back and breaks
the lead rope or halter, and now there are two problems
to fix.
Approach and Retreat
The best place to work on the approach and retreat
method is in a 50 foot round pen or an arena where the
horse is free to move his feet. If you approach the horse
with scary objects in his stall or other confined areas, it
will make him feel trapped and claustrophobic. As long
as a horse can move his feet, he won’t feel like he has to
fight you. When a horse feels trapped, he uses the reactive side of his brain. Remember, horses have a flight or
fight response which means that they either run away
from danger or fight it. If the horse can’t move his feet,
his only other option will be to fight (kick, strike or
bite).
Begin to approach the horse with the fly spray by
standing at a 45 degree angle facing his shoulder.
Standing at a 45 degree angle is the safest position you
can be in when you’re working with a horse because
you’re too far in front to be kicked and too far to the
side to be struck. Keep the horse’s head tipped towards
you so that if he moves, his hindquarters will swing
away from you, and you’re not in any danger of being
kicked. Remember, you can run faster than a horse can
run sideways, and you can run faster than a horse can
go backwards as long has he is giving you two eyes.
Always start out by desensitizing the air space around
the horse. The last thing you want to do is walk straight
up to the horse with the fly spray and begin spraying. I
begin by desensitizing the air space around the horse
because if the horse can’t tolerate the object around
him, there’s no way he’ll accept it on or near his body.
Fly spray can be hard for the horse to accept because not
only does he have to tolerate the noise the spray bottle
makes, but he also has to accept the feeling of something spraying against his body.
Fill a spray bottle up with water (your horse won’t
know the difference and you can save money) and begin spraying 4 feet away from him. If your horse is really frightened of the spray bottle and noise, you might
have to keep it 6 feet away from him in the beginning.
It doesn’t matter where you begin, but find a starting
point that your horse is comfortable with and gradually
work your way closer to his body. Keep spraying with
rhythm until two things happen—the horse’s feet stop
moving and he relaxes. Once the horse is relaxed, retreat and rub him.
It’s important to keep spraying if the horse’s feet are
still moving. Follow him wherever he goes until he
stands still and relaxes and then retreat (stop spraying).
While you’re following him, make sure that you spray
with rhythm. Count out loud to yourself if you’re having trouble staying consistent—1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, 3, 4.
The biggest mistake people make is taking away the fly
spray when the horse moves. If you take the spray bottle away from the horse when he’s moving away from you, you’ll teach him that if
he wants the object to go away, all he has
to do is run from it. We want him to use
the thinking side of his brain and stand
still and relax. When a horse relaxes, he
licks his lips, cocks a hind leg, takes a big
breath, blinks his eyes or lowers his head
and neck. Once he shows a sign of relaxAlways stand at a 45
degree angle facing the
horse’s shoulder—the safest
place to stand. Start by
desensitizing the air space
around the horse, beginning
about 4 feet away from him.
ing, or stands still for 15
seconds, retreat and take
the object away.
Keep repeating the process until he’s completely
comfortable with the fly
spray being sprayed next
to his body and doesn’t
try to move away from it.
Keep in mind that sometimes a horse won’t show
you the five signs of relaxing (lowering his head and
neck, taking a big breath,
licking his lips, cocking a
hind leg or blinking his
eyes), but if he stands still
for 15 seconds, it is OK to
retreat at that particular
point. If a horse stands
still for 15 seconds, he’s
telling you that he is not
interested in running. He may still be a little scared, but
at least he’s not moving.
When you have the airspace around the horse desensitized to the fly spray, begin spraying his body starting
with the top line—1) withers and back, 2) hindquarters and 3) neck—in that order. Use the same steps I
described above, approaching and retreating each area
until the horse keeps his feet still and relaxes. When
you move to the legs, some horses will get defensive
and kick out when the spray hits them. That’s OK, just
ignore them and keep spraying until they stand still and
relax. That’s why you stand at a 45 degree angle to the
horse’s shoulder because you’ll be too far in front to be
kicked by a hind leg and too far to the side to be struck
by a front leg. Eventually, the horse will realize that the
fly spray isn’t hurting him, and he’ll stop kicking and
relax.
I desensitize both sides of the horse’s body before I
introduce the spray to his face. Remember, when you
switch sides, you switch brains. So when you go to the
other side, make sure that you introduce the fly spray
to the horse the same way that you did the first time,
following the same steps. Start by desensitizing the air
space around him first, and then move on to desensitizing his top line, and then his legs.
Only desensitize the horse’s face to the spray when
he is completely comfortable with it all over his body,
on both sides. When you do desensitize his face, set the
spray bottle on the mist position and point the bottle
up in the air when you spray. That way the mist will fall
down on the horse’s face. The horse will probably raise
his head, and he might even back up when you start
spraying. If he does, keep spraying with a consistent
rhythm and follow him until he stands still and relaxes,
and then retreat and rub him. Desensitize both sides
of his face, and then stand in front of him and spray.
When I use real fly spray, I cover the horse’s eye with
my hand so that the spray won’t get in his eyes, but with
the water, you don’t have to worry about that.
Practice approaching and retreating with the spray
bottle filled with water two to three days before actually using fly spray. When your horse stands still and
relaxed consistently two to three days in a row when
you approach him with the water, then use fly spray.
Success Tip
Desensitize your horse to fly spray when he wants to
stand still. Do this after you have worked him on a warm
day and he’s tired and sweaty. The water will feel good
on his body, and he won’t want to move. Don’t take a
horse that has been in a stall for a couple of days and
is full of beans and try to desensitize him to fly spray.
He’ll run around and not want any part of standing still.
Set yourself up for success and desensitize your horse
when he’s tired and wanting to stand still.
When you start actually spraying the horse with fly
spray, don’t act any different. A lot of people have a tendency to start sneaking around the horse when using
the fly spray. You don’t want to give the horse any indication that you are using anything different than water.
It works best if you use an empty fly spray bottle of the
same brand and color of the fly spray you would normally use when you first desensitize your horse to the
experience.
Clinton uses Pyranha fly
sprays at his Downunder
Horsemanship ranch.
When you have the airspace around the horse desensitized to the fly spray, begin
spraying his body starting with the top line—1) withers and back, 2) hindquarters and
3) neck—in that order. Use the same steps as described on page 22, approaching and
retreating each area until the horse keeps his feet still and relaxes. When you move to
the legs, some horses will get defensive and kick out when the spray hits them. That’s
OK, just ignore them and keep spraying until they stand still and relax.
23
Two Tracking:
Stage One and Two
An Exercise for Total Body Control
Two tracking is an excellent exercise
if you want complete control of your
horse’s body. I love to two track my
horses all over the place, especially out
on the trail. You’ll be amazed at how
soft, supple and responsive it can make
your horse.
What is two tracking? Two tracking is
moving the horse forwards and sideways
off of your leg at a 45 degree angle
while keeping his body in a straight
line. Some industries call it leg yielding, but I call it two tracking because
the horse is actually on two separate
tracks. His front feet and back feet
leave two separate tracks in the dirt.
Stage One—With Bend
During Stage One, the horse will bend his head and
neck and stay soft while his body moves off of your leg
pressure at a 45 degree angle. He’ll move forward with
his shoulders and hips in a straight line.
In order to teach two tracking so that the horse understands what I’m asking, I break it into two separate stages—Stage One, with bend and Stage Two, without bend.
Stage One is getting the horse to move off of your leg
laterally while keeping his shoulder and hip in a straight
line and his head bent in the opposite direction that
he’s moving. Not only does Stage One encourage a lot
of suppleness in the horse’s body and get him moving
off leg pressure well, but it also encourages a lot of bend
in the horse.
If a horse already knows how to side pass, Stage One
will be relatively easy. To side pass you yield the horse’s
hindquarters, and then press with your leg to move him
off sideways. Two tracking is similar to that, but now
instead of going straight sideways, we’re actually going
forward and off to a 45 degree angle at the same time.
We’re just adding forward motion.
Why
Two tracking gets control of all five body parts (head
and neck, poll, shoulders, ribcage and hindquarters) and
encourages the horse to get softer and more responsive
to your hands and legs.
Teaching Stage:
Two Tracking Stage One - to the Left
Use both hands to collect the horse.
Your horse should already know how to give both
1.
laterally and vertically before you teach him this exercise. As soon as you pick up on the reins, he should instantly give to the pressure and tuck his nose in.
Your horse should be moving forward and collected. Tip his head to the right with your right
2.
rein. Ideally, the horse should drop his nose to the point
of his shoulder and remain soft. Bending the head encourages the horse to keep his hindquarters in line with
his shoulders. In the beginning, most horses will have a
tendency to lag their hindquarters.
A horse’s hindquarters have to move the opposite way
his head and neck are bent. If I have my horse’s head
and neck bent to the right, his hindquarters will move
off to the left. The more you bend a horse’s head and
neck, the easier it is for his hindquarters to catch up
with his front end.
Pick up the left rein and hold it out wide and
3.
point in the direction you want the horse to go.
Your hands should be wider than your hips.
You are opening a door for the horse to walk through.
Apply pressure with the calf of your right leg in
4.
the middle of the horse’s ribcage. I usually carry
a dressage whip with me so I can tap the horse if he
doesn’t get off of my leg. I start out by gently pressing
with the calf of my leg in the middle of his ribcage, and
if he doesn’t get off of it, I press with my spur. If he ignores my spur, I tap him with the whip—with rhythm—
until he moves away from the pressure. You may have to
firmly tap him with the whip, or thump him with your
spur, to get the results you want. Usually, it is the lazier
type horses that you need to get after in order for them
to respect your leg. Always ask the horse with the calf of
your leg first, and then, if he doesn’t respond, tell him
with your whip or spur.
Sit on your right butt cheek to encourage the
horse to move through the open door. Shifting
5.
your weight over to the right makes it easy for the horse
to walk through that door you created with your left
hand. You’ll also take your left leg off which also encourages the horse to move off in that direction.
As soon as the horse takes one step away from
6.
your leg pressure and he softens his chin and
jaw, release the pressure. It’s important to find a starting point. Allow the horse to first understand how he’s
supposed to move his feet, and then ask for softness.
Eventually, I want the horse to soften his chin and jaw
before I release the pressure. It may just be a step or
two in the beginning. Everyday ask for another step and
eventually, you’ll be able to two track all over the arena.
Once the horse understands the concept of moving
his feet, I don’t want to release the reins until he actually tucks his head in and softens. I want him to move
off my leg and stay soft in the face at the same time. The
more you can get the horse to bend his neck and tuck
his chin to his shoulder, the softer he’ll get. Remember,
horses get soft from the release of pressure, not from
the pull of pressure.
Once the horse can do Stage One to the left,
7.
go ahead and start working on his right side.
Remember, when you change sides, you change brains.
So repeat the same steps you did on the other side, getting the horse to understand the concept first. Then
build on that by asking for a few more steps every day
and waiting until he gets soft before releasing pressure.
Eventually, when the horse can move off of your leg in
both directions, you can switch from one side to the
other. Just practice this a little every day, and he’ll get
better and better.
Common Rider Mistakes—Stage One
Not letting the horse relax between tries.
Remember to only look for a couple of steps of lateral
movement in the beginning. As soon as the horse gives
you a couple of good steps, release the pressure and let
him relax and walk forward. Give the horse a chance to
relax and think about what he’s doing. Let him walk 50
feet or so after releasing him before asking again.
Asking for too many steps before you release
Remember, you have to establish a starting point.
Horses learn from the release of pressure. So when your
horse moves off your leg and you release the pressure,
you are rewarding him and teaching him that this is the
correct answer.
Not opening the door enough.
Make sure that you’re opening the door enough with
your outside hand and leg. Open up the door and drive
the horse through it. If I’m two tracking my horse to
the left, I hold the left rein out and point where I want
the horse to move his shoulder. If you don’t open the
door enough, the horse will go too far forward and not
step off at a 45 degree angle. It is also important to
make sure that your left leg is off of the horse when you
squeeze. When you squeeze the horse with both legs it
means go forward. When you apply one leg, it means
move laterally off of that leg.
Changing sides before the horse is ready.
Teach the horse on one side first and get it down good
before moving on to the next side. Going straight to the
other side will only confuse the horse. Once the horse
Left: To begin Stage One, use both hands to collect the
horse. Below: Tip his head opposite the direction you
want to move.
Not turning your toe out enough.
The more you turn your toe out when you’re pressing
with your leg or spur, the easier it is to get the horse to
move off of your leg.
Not releasing when the horse gives.
Make sure that anytime the horse softens you give
back to him. Even if it is just a little give make sure you
reward him. Every time you see his nose drop down, release an inch or two inches of the reins.
Letting the horse’s hindquarters lag.
Mistake: Don’t drag the reins across the horse’s neck.
understands the concept on one side, move to the other
side. And remember, when you change sides, you change
brains. Usually, I don’t change sides until I can get four
consistent steps on one side.
Releasing before the horse softens his face.
Once the horse understands how to move his feet,
don’t release the pressure until he moves while relaxing
and softening his face. Remember, we’re past the initial stage of getting the horse to move off our leg. Now
we’re waiting for him to move off and soften. When the
horse does soften, you have to reward that and drop the
reins and let him walk off. Eventually, you’ll be able to
release the reins only 2 to 3 inches to give him a little
reward and continue to keep asking him to move off of
your leg. Remember to reward softness, and anytime
a horse gives to you, give back to him by releasing the
pressure on the reins.
Most people want to pick the horse up, put their leg
on, and then leave the horse’s hindquarters lag behind.
If the horse lags his hindquarters, bend his head and
neck more and put your leg on further back to encourage his hindquarters to catch up. The more bend there
is in the head and neck, the easier it is for the horse’s
hindquarters to follow through. Remember that a
horse’s hindquarters always swing the opposite direction that his head and neck are bent. Be picky about his
shoulders and hindquarters staying in a straight line.
Only his head and neck should be bent.
Common Horse Mistakes—Stage One
Lagging his hindquarters.
Most horses will lag their hindquarters in the beginning. They’ll move their front end off first and trail behind with their hindquarters. If that happens, bend the
horse’s head and neck more and put your leg on further
back to make his hindquarters catch up.
If that’s not working, don’t be afraid to yield his hindquarters and get him to disengage and then start again.
If you think that the hindquarters haven’t been taught
to move enough, you may need to go back and spend
time yielding the hindquarters on both sides.
Taking the bend out before the horse is ready.
Don’t ask the horse to move on to Stage Two if he
hasn’t mastered Stage One yet. He needs to be really
good at moving his shoulders and hindquarters off in
a straight line while his head and neck are bent to the
side. Once he can do that well, then you can try to move
on to Stage Two and get him moving off of your leg
pressure with his entire body in a straight line.
Dragging the reins across the horse’s neck.
When you ask the horse to two track, don’t pick up
the reins and drag them across his neck. Dragging the
reins across his neck will only cause him to lock up.
When a horse locks up he can’t move his feet forward,
and his only option is to go backwards. You need to keep
your hands low and as wide as your hips and drive him
off with your legs. Don’t try to pull him over with your
hands, use your leg to push him off.
Mistake: Don’t let the horse’s hindquarters lag.
Leaning on the bit.
A lot of horses will get real stiff in the beginning of
this exercise. If your horse picks his head and neck up,
rock the bridle back and forth. You want to make the
horse feel uncomfortable for leaning on the bit. By rocking the bit back and forth, you’re taking away anything
solid he can brace against. Take a hold of the reins and
just wait, but as soon as he softens release the pressure.
Remember, reward the slightest try. The secret to lightness isn’t the pull, it’s the release. The quicker you release the reins when the horse gives, the lighter he will
become.
Backing up.
If the horse is sucking back too much, release the
reins, use more leg pressure, and then drive him forward and start again. Usually, if a horse is backing up
and trying to get out of it, you need to go run him, get
him doing some rollbacks, clean his feet up and get the
cobwebs out of his mind.
You could also be pulling on the reins too much which
makes the horse lock up. When a horse locks up, he can’t
move forwards. You want to pull enough on the reins to
bend the horse’s head and neck, but not so much that
you lock his feet up and the only place he can go is backwards. At this point in the training, you have to be able
to use some feel. The horse should be moving forward
and over.
Walking forward too much.
If your horse is walking straight forward instead of
sideways at a 45 degree angle even though his head and
neck are bent, you probably aren’t using enough outside
rein. Pull the outside rein more to make the horse move
over the way you want. For example, if I were two tracking my horse to the left, I’d have his head and neck bent
to the right. With my left hand I’d pull more on the left
rein. Where you pull back on the rein and point, that’s
where the horse’s body goes. If you want the horse to go
back more, pull harder. If you want him to go forward
more, pull less. If you want him to go more sideways,
pull harder. Remember, the outside rein dictates how
much the horse goes forward and across.
Kicking at your leg.
Sometimes I get a horse that’s resistant and kicks at
my leg. If a horse cow kicks like that when I put my leg
on, I thump him in the belly as hard as I can with my
boot or spurs, and then I whack him with the whip a
couple of times. I mean I make that horse jump off of
my leg. What I’m saying is when a horse cow kicks at
you, he’s basically telling you to get lost. I’ll use driving
pressure with energy to get him to move. I’m not cracking the horse to punish him, I’m cracking him to get
him off my leg. He needs to respect that leg. So when
he treats my leg disrespectfully, I want him to feel very
uncomfortable for doing this.
It’s like this: Option A, you get off my leg with light
pressure or Option B, I’m really going to make you
move. Usually, it’s the lazier type horses that will try
kicking out at you. Don’t let the horse chump you, make
him move where you want him.
Stage Two—Without Bend
By now, the horse should be relatively good at Stage
One—he moves off of your leg with his head and neck
bent, preferably with his nose tipped down to the point
of his shoulder. The next step is to get the horse to two
track with his head and neck aligned straight with his
body.
Goal:
The horse keeps his entire body (head, neck, shoulders and hindquarters) on a straight line while moving
forward and across at the walk, trot and canter, and is
light to both leg and bit pressure.
Teaching Stage:
Two Tracking Stage Two - to the Left
1. Walk the horse forward and collect him.
the calf of your right leg, gently press the
2. With
horse’s side in the middle of his ribcage.
Shift your weight to your right butt cheek to encourage the horse to move off to the left.
3.
Since the horse’s body is being kept on a straight line,
it is harder for him to keep his hindquarters caught
up with the rest of his body. That’s why I always start
out teaching my horses how to two track by breaking it
down into two stages. In Stage One, bending the head
and neck makes it easier for the horse to catch his hindquarters up with the rest of his body. By the time I take
the horse into Stage Two, he’s already good at keeping
his hindquarters in a straight line with his shoulders.
As soon as the horse takes a step to the left while
4.
remaining soft, release all pressure and let him
walk 50 feet on a loose rein before trying again.
Once the horse can take several consistent steps
to the left, repeat the same steps to his right side.
5.
Remember to stay on one side until the horse is good
at moving off of your leg and keeping his entire body
on a straight line going in that direction. Horses generally have one side that’s worse than the other. Just
work through it and wait until the horse moves off and
his nose softens. Anytime he wants to lift his head and
neck up, bump him on his jaw a little bit until he softens
that chin up. Then turn him loose, retreat and pitch him
away.
When the horse understands the exercise at the walk, move to the trot,
6.
and then the canter. Eventually, I want to be
able two track at all three gaits, but it’s important to start at the walk and stay at the
walk until the horse is comfortable with the
exercise. Don’t get into a hurry and rush the
horse through each gait and end up not being able to do the exercise right. Remember,
quality is more important than quantity.
Start at the walk and once that’s good, move
on to the trot and then the canter. It kind of
builds on itself.
Common Rider Mistakes—Stage
Two
Not keeping the hindquarters even
with the shoulders.
If you’re having trouble keeping the
horse’s hindquarters caught up to the rest
of his body, you need to be more consistent.
There are a couple of different ways you can
keep the horse’s shoulders and his hindquarters even. Sometimes, if you put your
leg back a little farther on his side, that’ll
be enough to help the horse’s hindquarters
move faster and catch up. You can also try
lifting the inside rein to block his shoulder
from falling out. For example, if you were
two tracking to the left, you’d pick up on the
left rein and lift it a bit. If that doesn’t work,
you can always go back to Stage One and really concentrate on bending his head and
neck to get his hindquarters to stay even
with his shoulders.
Not keeping your leg in the middle of
the horse’s ribcage.
Stage Two is very similar to Stage One—but this next step is
to get the horse to two track with his head and neck aligned
straight with his body.
It’s important for you to keep your leg in the middle
of the horse’s ribcage unless your horse is lagging his
hindquarters, in which case, it needs to be further back.
If you place your leg too far back, the horse’s hip may
lead and if you place your leg too far forward, his shoulder might lead. As a general rule, keep your leg in the
middle of the horse’s ribcage. You may have to move
it a little bit depending on what body part is lagging
behind.
Success Tips
The secret to softening a horse is to keep feeding him
slack from the reins. Let your hands go forward and release the pressure on his face every time he gives. Once
the horse understands the general concept of the exercise, you can keep asking him to go forward and across,
but release the reins a little bit every couple of steps.
Remember, a horse doesn’t get soft from the pull of
pressure, but from the release of it.
When you’re out on the trail, or even if you’re in the
arena, a good way to practice this is to ask the horse to
trot and pitch him away. Let him trot for several strides
then sit and relax and ask him to walk. When he walks
pick up the reins and two track off to one side until he
gets nice and soft. Repeat that a couple of times, pitching the horse away and then reining him in and two
tracking off. You can even do it at the canter. It really
gets those horses trotting and cantering nice and slow
because they know that they’re going to have to slow
down and do a transition.
The whole reason for two tracking is that it gives you
more overall control of the horse’s body. I love doing
this out on the trail. I just pick up on my horse and
press him from side to side. You’ll be amazed at how
soft and supple two tracking will get your horse, and
when you’re out on the trail, it’ll get him paying attention to you. This is a great exercise for getting a horse
soft and supple.
Catching up with ‘Little Clinton’
“It was a gut feeling that this little horse was special,”
Jessica McMahon will tell anyone who asks why she bought
Clinton Anderson’s 2007 Road to the Horse Colt Starting
Challenge horse.
The small sorrel gelding was one of ten colts this year’s
contestants—Clinton, Chris Cox and Stacy Westfall—had to
chose from at the Murfreesboro, Tennessee event. To create
an even playing field for the contestants the colts selected
were virtually untouched since their birth, and all came from
the Cornelius Ranch in Alabama. Spread across 900 acres in
northern Alabama, the Cornelius Ranch has a reputation for
breeding quality stock horses. The colts used in this year’s
competition have bloodlines that trace back to legendary
Quarter Horses like Mr. San Peppy and Peppy San Badger.
While Jessica had never been to the Road to the Horse before this year’s competition, she was familiar with the three
clinicians competing for the title. Her friend, Allison Parrish,
told her about Clinton years ago and Jessica has been religiously watching him on RFD-TV since.
“It didn’t even cross my mind,” Jessica said of buying the
colt. Instead, during the weekend, Jessica was caught up in
the activities taking place in the three round pens in the middle of Miller Coliseum. “I was watching each trainer’s method
and the individual qualities of each horse.”
As the competition heated up, Jessica’s eyes kept wander30 | No Worries Journal
ing back to the sorrel gelding Clinton was working with. By
the time the colt was moving through the obstacle course
at the end of the competition, Jessica knew she had to have
him.
“I could tell he had a big heart,” Jessica explained. The colt
didn’t blink an eye when Clinton fired black powder guns off
his back to shoot balloons, or even when he stood in the saddle with a chainsaw running at full speed.
“I wasn’t interested in any of the others [horses],” Jessica
said. “None of them struck me like this little guy.”
After the competition, Jessica sent the colt back to the
Cornelius Ranch for training where he is a barn favorite. “The
trainer can’t say enough good things about him,” Jessica said.
The gelding is more than willing to do what is expected of him,
and has charmed the ranch with his affectionate personality.
It seems the only difficulty surrounding the colt is what his
name is going to be. “This is kind of a funny story,” Jessica began. “He has several names at this point. My girlfriend insists
on calling him Clinton, and unknown to me, until recently, I
found out that the trainer has nicknamed him Little Clinton
because of ‘the Aussie hitch in his walk.’”
Jessica has been calling him Chiquito, a Spanish word
meaning very small, but even she has found herself referring
to him as Little Clinton.
While he’s at the Cornelius Ranch being trained, Little
Clinton is also being ridden by the ranch owner’s 12-yearold daughter Sonia. Sonia tacks the gelding up herself and
rides him out on the trails “with dogs and all kinds of scary
objects.”
During the competition, Clinton desensitized the colt to
anything and everything he could think of. He hung pool
noodles, a cow bell and bell boots outfitted with ropes around
the horse’s legs. He even fired black powder guns and ran a
leaf blower and chainsaw next to the horse.
“I spent a lot of time trying to get him super quiet and
broke to death,” Clinton explained. “The greatest tool in the
world you can use when you train a horse is your imagination.
I wanted to show people that you can use any object in the
world, and as long as you use approach and retreat and don’t
take the object away until the horse keeps his feet still and
relaxes, you can desensitize him to anything.”
After all of the desensitizing the sorrel gelding went
through during the competition,
Jessica said that hardly anything
frightens or scares him.
“To give you an example of where
this horse is at,” Jessica said, “the
ranch had a big truckload of sand
delivered for the round pen and
Little Clinton saw it and immediately wanted to go check it out. He
proceeded to walk to the top of the
pile and the 12-year-old, Sonia, let
him walk straight up on top of it.
Then she proceeded to stand up in
the saddle with Little Clinton on
top of the pile of sand.
“The only thing that has seemed
to remotely surprise him were
barking dogs running in and out of
bushes on a trail ride, and that was
only minimal,” Jessica added.
“He has yet to come home because of our weather here,” Jessica
explained, “but he is expected home
in Colorado on the 15th of May.”
And when Little Clinton does
make his journey across the states
to his new home, big things will
be expected of the young horse.
After watching Clinton work the
colt in the round pen and then
later, through the obstacle course,
Jessica couldn’t help but visualize
him picking his way along the trails
in the Rocky Mountains. His quiet nature and sure-footedness guarantee a safe trail riding horse. Jessica has even considered working cows with him, but plans on waiting to see if
Little Clinton shows potential. Given his bloodlines, there’s a
good chance he will.
“Eventually though,” Jessica said, “he will be the horse for
my 3-year-old grandson.”
“I was more than pleased with my horse that I used in this
year’s Road to the Horse,” Clinton explained. “I know he’ll be
perfect for Jessica and her grandson.
“Yes, I was disappointed I didn’t win, but I felt like I did the
best job I could and my horse did the best he could. You can’t
do anymore than that. I was training a horse that the average
backyard horse rider could take home and ride safely out on
the trail, so I’m confident he’ll do well for Jessica.
“I’m so glad that Jessica likes her horse, it really makes the
event worthwhile.”
Clinton desensitized the colt to
anything and everything he could
think of, including pool noodles,
and hanging a cow bell and bell
boots outfitted with ropes around
the horse’s legs. He even ran a
chainsaw next to the horse.
Road to the Horse
After Thoughts
His gun smoke still visible in the
air, Clinton finished his freestyle
by standing on his horse’s back
with a running chainsaw, shouting “That’s how it’s done!” to the
crowd before dismounting.
Club Members respond to the event’s outcome, and Clinton gives his candid thoughts on the event...
If you were lucky enough to watch this year’s Road to the
Horse competition, you saw three of the top clinicians in the
country competing for the championship title. The event,
held annually since 2003, took place the weekend of March
3 and 4 and featured clinicians Clinton Anderson, Chris Cox
and Stacy Westfall. Although Clinton put forth his best efforts to win the competition, ultimately, Cox left the arena
with the trophy saddle and buckle.
While most Clinton fans will tell you that there is something to be gained from watching and learning from as many
horse trainers as you can, and Chris Cox and Stacy Westfall
are certainly no exceptions, many spectators left the competition scratching their heads.
“Was it just me or did anyone else think Clinton won?” Greg
Wilson asked his fellow club members the day after the grueling Road to the Horse Colt Starting Challenge. “He was shooting pistols next to his [horse’s] head for goodness sakes!!”
Clinton, the only two-time champion of the event, went
into the weekend with one goal—safety and quietness. His
plan was to make his colt bombproof by desensitizing him to
anything and everything he could think of.
Clinton chose a small sorrel gelding, out of the herd of
ten 3-year-old colts, to spend the weekend with. In years
previous, the panel of judges selected the horses for the
clinicians, but this year, the clinicians picked the colt they
wanted to work with for themselves. Saturday afternoon,
with the crowd of 6,000 on their feet, the colts were run into
Murfreesboro, Tennessee’s Miller Coliseum. The three clinicians drew straws to determine what order they would select
their horses in. Clinton ended up getting the last pick. While
Cox and Westfall moved the herd of young horses around and
deliberated for a time about which colt they wanted, as soon
as it was Clinton’s turn to choose a horse, he knew instantly
which horse he wanted to spend the weekend with.
“I tried to pick a horse that wasn’t real wild or real quiet,”
Clinton explained, “something about in the middle. I was
looking for a horse that the everyday person could ride—not
a professional—just an everyday rider.”
“When I was doing all that desensitizing to that colt,”
Clinton explained, “I was trying to show people how you can
use your imagination to get a horse to accept things that
would normally be very frightening to a horse—chainsaws,
handguns, leaf blowers, etc.”
“I think I made one major mistake in Road to the Horse
this year. I thought the judges were looking for a quiet, wellbroke horse the average backyard horseman could ride. In
reality, I don’t think they were looking for that at all. I think
they were looking for a ranch broke colt that a cowboy could
ride across the pasture and gather up some cattle on. Now,
the type of horse that a professional cowboy can ride is obviously a completely different animal than the novice horse
rider can ride.
“My colt was a little on the lazy side so I did have some
trouble moving his feet especially at the canter, but that’s
very typical of young horses, especially the type of colt I had.”
Clinton said.
“The quieter a horse is the more disrespectful he is when
it comes to saying, ‘Move your feet now.’ A wilder horse will
move anytime you tell him to, but the negative is he’s usually
not very quiet and instead, pretty spooky.
“Moving out is the only part of my colt that I wish was better. I wish he would have cantered better in the round pen,
but I knew once I got him out of the confined space of the
round pen and into the arena to do the obstacles that he’d be
a lot better, and sure enough, he was.”
“Chris Cox is a great horseman, obviously,” No Worries
Club member Bareback stated, “but I don’t think he is geared
towards everyday people like Clinton is. I’d imagine that
Chris’s horses would be more difficult to ride where Clinton’s
are broke for just about anybody to ride with little instruction. There’s no debating, in my opinion, that Clinton is the
best people teacher out there.”
Barnbum, another club member from Colorado, added that
“Chris Cox had a beautiful ride, but as a trainer, he doesn’t
teach safety first.”
“I think if you had to ask the audience that was at Road to
the Horse if they had to pick a horse that they were going to get
on in that arena right then and there, which horse would it be?
I think the vast majority would actually have said my horse.”
“My hat goes off to both Chris and Stacy for a job well done.
We each trained our horses with a little bit different goal in
mind.
“But you know what? The fact that people would feel safe
getting on this horse is all the success I need. Because making
sure that people are safe, and enjoy being around their horses
is what life is all about, isn’t it, Mate?”
Even though he got a little spirited in the round pen,
Clinton had a quiet, safe & supple horse at the end.
Handle Your Horse
Safely and Effectively
Away from Home
Before you take your horse away from the barn make sure that he is listening
to you and riding good at home first. If your horse is not riding well at home (by
home I mean in an arena or a controlled, safe area) believe me, he will not ride
well away from home.
Usually, everything gets worse when you take your horse away from home
because the horse is more distracted. He’s not paying attention, not listening,
he’s goofing off, shying, spooking, etc. If your horse is misbehaving at home,
believe me, he’s really going to misbehave when you take him further away from
home to a show or if you haul him somewhere to trail ride. The biggest thing is
get your horse working good at home first by doing the groundwork and riding
exercises—preparation leads to success.
People say to me all the time, “My horse takes off with me whenever we go
away from home, he shies, he bucks, he rears, etc.” You know what? It all comes
down to a lack of foundation. Put a solid foundation on your horse, and your
problems will take care of themselves.
Before you head away from home, read through the check list below and be
sure you can meet these minimum requirements. Your horse should at least have
these basic fundamentals before you take him out of a controlled environment
and introduce him to new places, horses and strange objects.
As the days get longer
and the weather gets
warmer, many of us are
gearing up for a busy
season with our horses.
Whether you plan on
hauling your horse to
shows or heading out on
trails, controlling your
horse safely in a new
environment should be at
the top of your to do list.
I can walk, trot and canter on a loose rein.
I don’t care how well trained a horse is—he can slide to a stop, do a flying
change every second stride, or side pass a 100 feet. If you can’t walk, trot and
canter your horse on a loose rein while he remains relaxed, you have nothing—no
control as far as I’m concerned. If you have to constantly hold on to your horse’s
mouth to keep him slow enough and in control, it’s only a matter of time before
you get into a wreck. A horse that will walk, trot and canter calmly and slowly at
all three gaits is often a horse that is using the thinking side of his brain.
My horse has a good gas pedal. When I squeeze with my legs he
instantly responds and goes faster at all three gaits—walk, trot
and canter.
If you have a gas pedal problem at home in the arena, it is only going to get worse
at shows or on the trail. Remember, you have to be able to move the horse’s feet
if you want to be able to control the direction of those feet. A horse that’s disrespectful won’t want to move his feet, and a horse that’s fearful or reactive will
want to move his feet too much.
My horse has a good brake. I can confidently do one rein stops at
all three gaits.
If your horse goes to shy or bolt, the quicker you can bend his head around and
disengage his hindquarters, the safer you will be. Remember, the one rein stop
is your emergency handbrake. I never ride a horse unless I know that I can do a
one rein stop at all three gaits. If you can’t do a one rein stop at all three gaits,
it’s not if you have a bad riding accident, it’s just when.
My horse has a cruise control button.
In other words, he can maintain a speed that you set him at on a loose rein
without speeding up or slowing down. When I tell a horse to trot, he trots. How long
should he trot? The answer is until I tell him otherwise—five minutes, 30 minutes or
five hours—it doesn’t matter. Until I give him another command, trot is all he should
do. If your horse is fat and lazy and breaks down to a walk when you ask him to trot,
or if he’s hot and nervous and gallops when you ask him to canter, you have a limited
amount of control.
I have control of all five of my horse’s body parts (head and neck, poll,
shoulders, ribcage and hindquarters).
Your horse should be soft and supple from his nose to his tail. If your horse isn’t soft
and supple, you’re not going to be able to control his feet.
If you do your homework before you leave home, the chances of you succeeding are
greatly increased. Most people do zero preparation and zero training on their horse.
Then they take the horse away from home and wonder why the horse shies, bucks,
bolts, etc.
If you’re a trail rider, I want you to think that trail riding is like a sport. If you’re
a dressage rider, a reining competitor or a cutting competitor, if you did not practice and went to compete, and your horse didn’t do very well, would that surprise
you? No, because you didn’t practice your skills. Same thing goes with trail riding.
A lot of people don’t ride their horse Monday through Friday, and then they saddle
their horses up on Saturday, kick them in the belly, and then wonder why the horses spook, shy, bolt, kick and literally try to kill them. The answer is simple isn’t it?
They prepared to fail—they didn’t prepare to succeed. Horses are nothing more than
maintenance with legs. If you want them to ride well and behave well, you have to
maintain them, teach them, exercise them, etc.
Groundwork, groundwork, groundwork
Ever notice that when you go to unload your horse away from home, half of the
horse is yours and the other half is some idiot you wish you never met? You know
what I mean? The horse is whinnying, dancing around, pawing, he’s shying and
spooking. He’s not paying attention to you is he? Well, the last thing I’d do at this
point is saddle the horse up and get on.
Do some groundwork to get him to use the thinking side of his brain, not the reacting side. Get his feet moving forwards, backwards, left and right and always reward
the slightest try. The more I can get the horse moving his feet forwards, backwards,
left and right, the more respect I will get and the more the horse will use the thinking side of his brain. Then the horse will calm down and relax and be a safe partner. I
do a lot of different exercises when I take the horse off of the trailer. It doesn’t really
matter what exercises you do with your horse as long as you move his feet.
One of the best exercises to do is Lungeing for Respect Stage II. In Stage II, as
soon as you step in front of the horse’s drive line and ask him to change directions,
you want him to stop, do a 180 degree turn and go the opposite way. He shouldn’t
hesitate when you ask him to change directions. This exercise gets more control of
the horse’s front end (his head, neck and shoulders) and gets him working off of his
hindquarters—stop, rollback, stop, rollback.
Do as many stops and turns as you can because it will make the horse use the
thinking side of his brain and it will wear him out a little quicker and get rid of the
excess energy on him. You see a lot of people at shows lungeing their horses before
the classes begin. What are their horses doing? They’re dragging the people halfway
across the arena with their heads high in the air, whinny out, bucking and kicking
out, and in general, just acting crazy and disrespectful. Lungeing for Respect really
gets the horse focusing back on you because you’re not giving him a chance to just
run around on the lunge line, looking out of the circle and whinnying to his buddies
and kicking up his heels. Instead, the horse focuses on you because you are constantly changing directions and controlling his feet.
I also do a lot of backing. Back the horse around the truck and trailer a couple of
times. Backing takes a lot of air out of a horse because it’s not easy for him to do. He
can’t do it for hours and hours. If you back your horse up 200 to 300 feet, you’ll be
amazed at how he focuses back on you again. Backing is one of the greatest ways to
build respect because backing is a humbling exercise. A horse that doesn’t respect you
Backing is one of the
greatest ways to build respect.
you take him to a horse show or out on a trail, he’ll embarrass
you pretty quickly. That’s why it’s important to take horses
away from home and really school on them and make them
pay attention.
Mix it up and move those feet
The Bending
Exercise is good for
moving the horse’s
feet, and making
him use the thinking
side of his brain.
pushes on top of you, runs you over and just doesn’t respect
your space in general. Well, backing is the complete opposite
of that. When a horse backs, he moves away from you, out of
your space. He can’t push on top of you or run over you.
The Sending Exercise is another good exercise to get the
horse to use the thinking side of his brain. Send him between
you and the trailer—back and forth, back and forth. Or, if
you’re at a show and think that your horse might spook or
shy at signs hanging in the arena, warm him up next to the
signs doing the Sending Exercise. Lots of changes of direction
will make him use the thinking side of his brain, and force
him to focus on you.
When do I get on?
If your horse is whinnying out, his head is real high, he has
a worried look in his eye, seems agitated or stands still for
two seconds and then immediately runs again, don’t get on
him. These are all signs that the horse isn’t using the thinking
side of his brain.
How long will it take to get the horse to use the thinking
side of his brain? It will probably take longer than it does at
home which is especially true for young horses. It could take
10, 20 or even 30 minutes.
Young horses are like young children—they always make
you look like a fool when you take them away from home. I
deliberately take my young horses away from home to teach
them that even though we’re here in a strange place and there
are strange objects, I’m still the leader. I’m still the commander and you still have to listen to me. I will keep you safe, don’t
worry because nothing out here is going to hurt you.
The more times you take your horse away from home and
make him pay attention and listen, the better behaved he will
be away from home. The less he will spook and get nervous,
and the less time it will take to calm him down and put his
focus back on you.
You can have a horse riding really well at home, but when
When you get on your horse remember that the more you
change directions, the more the horse will use the thinking
side of his brain. A horse that is using the thinking side of his
brain is a horse that is calm, responsive and respectful.
A great exercise is the Serpentine Exercise explained in
Riding with Confidence Series II and demonstrated in the
Advanced Riding Series. It’s a great suppling exercise to get the
horse soft through all five body parts (head and neck, poll,
shoulders, ribcage and hindquarters). To do the Serpentine
Exercise, you bend the horse’s head and neck from one side of
his body to the other side while his ribcage bends around your
inside leg. To bend the horse to the right, you use your right
hand and right leg, and to bend the horse to the left, you use
your left hand and left leg. When you supple your horse you
always use your inside hand and inside leg. When you steer,
you always use inside rein and outside leg. The horse’s head
should stay low and get no higher than the saddle horn as you
flex his head and neck from side to side. When a horse’s poll
gets above the saddle horn, you’re fixing to get into trouble
because it is easy for the horse to brace and push against your
hands.
The Bending Exercise is good too—making the horse go forward while bending his ribcage around your inside leg. You’ll
pull and release on one rein to keep his head and neck bent
to the inside. This exercise really gets the horse soft through
his ribcage. I also like to call it the “Listen to Me” Exercise
because you’re telling the horse, “Come here, pay attention to
me.” Every time he flexes his head and neck and he drops his
nose down towards my toe, I release the rein.
The last thing that I do on a horse that is using the reactive side of his brain is pick up on two reins and try to get
him to vertically give and collect. Pulling on two reins makes
the horse feel trapped and claustrophobic, and you’ll enter
a game of tug-of-war that you can’t win. It’s very easy for a
horse to lift his head and push against two reins. When a
horse is straight from his nose to his tail, he’s practicing resistance. When he’s bent from his nose to his tail, he’s practicing
softness. So get the horse soft first by flexing him laterally
and doing a lot of changes of direction.
Misbehaving in a class
A lot of horses will warm up at a horse show really well, but
when you take them into the class, they’ll start misbehaving. They jig, toss their heads, refuse to go forward, or worse.
Older horses that have been to a lot of shows understand
that they can’t misbehave in the warm-up pen because you’ll
correct them there. When you walk into the class, however,
you’re trying to show the horse to the best of his ability, so
you don’t want to be training or getting after him in front of
the judge because obviously, you’re not going to win if you
do. Some horses that have developed these habits get very
smart about it.
They say, “You know what? I’m not going to misbehave in
the warm-up pen because I know you’re going to correct me,
but I’m going to misbehave in the show pen and take advantage of you because I know that you’re not going to do anything to me.”
If you have a horse like that, you need to take him to some
fool ‘em and school ‘em shows. These are the little local
schooling shows where the entry fees aren’t very expensive.
Take your horse to one of those and enter him in as many
events as possible, and then school on him the whole time.
Do not try to win the event or even place.
Your job is to go in the show ring and tell the horse, “Listen,
I’ve got all the show equipment, I’ve got the hat, the chaps,
I’ve got your bridle on, I’ve got everything on, except you are
no longer going to keep chumping me. You’re going to listen
to me, you’re going to pay attention, and you’re going to stay
relaxed and confident.” If he doesn’t do any of those things
the way you want, you’re going to start training on him.
Now, you’re going to have to be aware that you can’t be too
aggressive about it of course. Otherwise, you will get kicked
out of the arena by the judge. You also have to be aware that
you don’t interfere with the other participants and their
horses.
If I’m in something like a western pleasure class, I’ll take
the horse towards the center of the arena and bend him
around and soften him up. So that way, I’m not interfering
with the other people going along the outside. When I have
the horse paying attention again, I ride back to the rail and
join the class.
Judges are pretty open minded to this type of stuff because
they realize that horses are animals and they will try to cheat
you from time to time. You’re going to have to pick your places and pick your judges. I recommend that you talk to the
judge ahead of time.
Walk up to him and say, “I’m going to use some of these
classes as schooling classes for my horse because he’s misbehaving. I would like for you to tell me what you’d prefer for
me to do so that I don’t interfere with your judging.”
Actually, it’s just courteous and respectful to inform him
of what’s going on. You are going to find some pompous
horseshow judges who think they are the greatest things in
the world, and they are going to say you’re not supposed to
school in the class. That can happen from time to time, but
most judges don’t mind. However, if you start interfering
with your safety and other people’s safety, the judge is going to
I love to train my horse on
nip it in the bud pretty quickly
the trail. The horse enjoys it
and tell you to stop.
a lot more and has more of
a reason to get hooked on
Misbehaving on the trail
you because you’re
When you’re out on the trail
getting his feet
however, that’s not the case.
to move.
On the trail there’s no judge,
so knock yourself out. If your
horse is misbehaving on the
trail and using the reactive side
of his brain, do as many changes
of direction as you can. Don’t go
straight for more than 10 feet
without turning. What does
that mean? It means there’s
a lot of turning going on isn’t
there? The more you turn them,
the better it works. Do serpentines, do the Bending Exercise,
do a lot of side passing from one
side of the trail to the other. The
Correcting Problems on the Trail
DVD Series is full of ideas you
can do while on the trail.
Personally, I do these types of exercises out on the trail to
my horses no matter if they’re giving me problems or not.
See, that’s what people don’t understand. The quickest way
to get a horse to be stupid on the trail is to let him go down
the trail on a big loose rein and ignore him. The horse’s mind
starts to wonder off and he starts looking for trouble.
Often, people will say to me, “Clinton, my horse just exploded all of a sudden. He just took off bucking.”
Usually, there is a lot of warning, but people just don’t pay
enough attention to their horses to realize that it is coming.
For example, just before your horse goes to buck or explode,
you’ll feel him tense up first, or his ears will start to flick.
Horses might not hold up a big sign that says, “Hey, I’m getting ready to kill you,” but they will give you some sort of sign.
Most people miss that sign because they’re too busy talking
to their friends. Or, they just don’t have enough experience
to read the signs.
When I go out trail riding I’m getting my horse broke. I don’t
do a lot of talking, I spend time listening to what my horse is
telling me so that I don’t get caught off guard. I’m stopping,
turning, side passing, collecting him, softening him up, moving his five body parts (head and neck, shoulders, ribcage and
hindquarters). I love to train my horse on the trail. The horse
enjoys it a lot more and has more of a reason to get hooked on
you because you’re getting his feet to move.
Personally, I can get a lot more training done outside. I can
train on a horse two to three hours outside if needed, and
he doesn’t get resentful, he doesn’t get sour or pinny-eared.
Start riding a horse in the arena for more than an hour and
a half, and he will start getting pretty disgruntled about it
because he feels like he’s going around seeing the same four
walls all of the time.
Here’s a simple rule to remember when you take your horse
away from home, whether you’re going to a show or out on
a trail ride—the less you keep your horse’s mind busy, the
more he will find to keep himself busy. And believe me, whatever he finds to get his attention on won’t be your idea of fun.
And remember this—a tired horse is always a good horse.
Behind the Scenes
With Apprentice
Krista Robinson
Raised in Bellefontaine, Ohio, Krista convinced
her parents, non-horse people, to let her take riding lessons at a local stable. While she began her
riding career in a western saddle, she later crossed
over into jumping and eventing.
“I’ve always had a desire to train horses and to
help people learn to work with their horses,” Krista
explained, “but I never knew that I could make
a living out of it. I was going to work a Monday
through Friday, nine to five job and just train as
a hobby.” But when the opportunity to work with
Clinton Anderson presented itself, Krista saw a
chance to make her dreams a reality.
“I had heard about Clinton through the horse
industry, but didn’t fully know much about him
until he moved next door, 15 minutes away from
my house,” Krista said. When Clinton set up camp
right down the road from Krista in Belle Center,
her curiosity got the best of her, and she immediately began searching for all the information she
could find on the Native Australian.
What Krista found was a trainer whose methods
are easy to understand and designed to get quick
results. “Everything you do with his methods
serve a purpose that will gain your horse’s respect
and keep you safe under saddle,” Krista said.
“The more information I found, I realized that
he was and is the best,” Krista asserted. “I pinch
myself everyday that I am lucky enough to be
here.”
Krista found out about the Downunder
Horsemanship Apprenticeship from family friend
Larry Peterson who is Clinton’s electrician. “I was
home on summer vacation from college and Larry
told me about the possible opening,” Krista explained. “I jumped at the opportunity and pleaded
for Larry to get me an interview.”
One thing led to another and a week later,
with her bags in tow, Krista moved into the
Downunder Horsemanship Ranch as an appren38 | No Worries Journal
tice. “It was a whirlwind of a dream come true,”
Krista expressed.
“She is an excellent, hard worker, she has great
people skills and she has an incredible desire to
help people and their horses,” Clinton said of
Krista who has been studying under him for the
past year and a half. “She’s not quite halfway
through the program, and I’m already impressed
with her ability and her progress.”
Since becoming an apprentice, Krista has seen
herself grow as a rider and trainer and loves working with both the horses and people she meets.
Currently, she travels the nation giving private,
one-on-one lessons and assists Clinton at horsemanship clinics across the country.
“People’s smiles just get bigger and bigger as
their horses improve,” Krista explained. “I get just
as excited, if not more excited, than the owners
when they accomplish a goal.”
“I can’t wait to see what she can do with a horse
by the end of the four year program, and I know
she’s going to be a great asset to helping people
with their horses,” Clinton said.
“It amazes me that this program improves every horse and also builds each owner’s confidence
and love for working with their horse,” Krista said.
“I’m so lucky to be able to relay Clinton’s methods
to these people and be able to help put that smile
on their faces.”
What’s the best piece of advice Clinton has
ever given apprentice Krista Robinson?
“Work harder and smarter than anybody
else and always give your customers more
than they paid for,” Krista will tell you. “If
you give people more than what they pay for
they will always come back, and you’ll never
be looking for more than you can handle.”
Krista’s not only busy with the day-to-day apprenticeship training, she’s also got training
horses to work with, a full schedule of clinics
she and another apprentice teach at the
ranch and around the country, and private
lessons for horses and their owners.
Fine-Tune your Horsemanship:
How to get Soft Hands
In my 15 years of teaching horsemanship I’ve never
had anybody walk up to me and say, “Clinton, my horse
is heavy and stiff and I have hard hands, and I like that.”
I’ve never had anybody say that to me.
I have had lots of people walk up to me and say,
“Clinton, my horse is heavy and stiff. How do I get him
soft, supple, responsive and light?”
It all begins with you, the rider. If you really want to
develop horsemanship skills you need to get your horse
as light as you possibly can, and that starts with having
soft hands.
The only way to develop soft hands is through experience. Riders with soft hands pick up gently on the reins
and always ask the horse politely to do what they want.
They don’t think pull. Instead, they think pick up and
make contact. That’s opposed to somebody snatching,
grabbing or jerking on the horse’s face.
The only way to get soft hands is by spending quality
time in the saddle. People who have soft hands have a
lot of feel and timing in their hands. Feel is how much
do I pull? Timing is when do I release? Feel is something people naturally have or don’t have. I honestly
believe that people are either born with it or not born
with. If you’re not born with it, you can develop it, but
it does take a lot of work. Riders who don’t have a lot of
natural feel have a tendency to always run their hands
down the reins and grab them quickly, or with too much
pressure.
As a general rule, I find that it is easier for ladies to develop a soft feel because they’re a little bit more refined.
Men, especially big muscled men, are the hardest people
for me to teach to develop soft hands and feel because
they don’t realize their own strength. They don’t realize
how hard they pick up on the reins.
A good way to visualize how you should pick up on
the reins is to imagine that you have blisters all over
your fingers. If you had bad blisters all over your fingers and you ran your hand down one rein and picked
up, how hard would you pull on the reins? You wouldn’t
pull very hard would you? Of course not, because your
hands would be hurting from blisters. How would you
run your fingers down the reins? Would your fingers
be tight and aggressive, or would you barely touch the
reins? When you picked up on the reins, would you pick
up with your finger tips, or would you pick up clenching the reins with your fist so that your knuckles turned
white?
You’d be amazed when I tell people to pick up on
the reins like they have blisters on their fingers how it
makes them: number one, slow their hands down, number two, not jerk and pick up quickly, and number three,
pick up with a lot of soft feel.
What I tell people is this—a horse never gets any
lighter than the first amount of pressure you put on
the reins. If you want a soft horse that responds immediately to light pressure, you have to be that way from
the start. Let’s say I want the horse to flex to the right.
If I always ask him with five ounces of pressure on the
right rein, he’ll never get any lighter than five ounces. I
want to ask with just one ounce of pressure on the right
rein. If he doesn’t respond by flexing and bending, then
I might increase the pressure to five ounces. As soon
as he responds and softens his face, I release the reins.
The next time I go to pick up, I’m going to ask with one
You’ve probably heard the saying,
“Light hands, light mouth.” I say,
“Light hands that pick up softly
and hands that release quickly
make a horse’s mouth light.”
ounce again, even though I know in the beginning that
one ounce is probably not going to be enough pressure
to ask him to bend and flex. But, I always need to give
my horse the benefit of the doubt.
When I say ask, I mean there’s not enough pressure to
make the horse flex, but I always have to give him the
benefit of the doubt. If I always start with one ounce
of pressure and finish with one ounce, eventually, one
ounce will be all it takes to get the horse to flex.
Horses never get any lighter than the first amount of
pressure you pick up with. So, if you always pick up kind
of heavy, you’re always going to have to pick up heavy. If
you pick up lightly, eventually, all you have to do is pick
up lightly.
When I ride I pick up with hands that are like feathers, but they can turn into steel at any point. Now, if I
pick up with that soft feel and my horse ignores me, he’s
stiff or he’s heavy, I’m certainly going to increase that
pressure by either bumping or jerking him off of the
rein using driving pressure, or pulling a lot harder with
steady pressure. How I react depends on the horse’s level of training and what he’s doing to me. I always start
gently and if that doesn’t work, I increase the pressure.
If the horse gives immediately, I can release the pressure straight away.
Now, a lot of people think that if you have light or soft
hands that your horse will automatically be light. That’s not
correct. You’ve probably heard
the saying, “Light hands, light
mouth.” I disagree with that
and I’ll tell you why.
I say, “Light hands that pick
up softly and hands that release
quickly make a horse’s mouth
light.”
For example, you could pick
up gently on the reins and be
very light, but if your horse
roots against that pressure and
flips his nose up or pulls on the
reins, if you don’t make him
feel uncomfortable by increasing the pressure on the reins
(or in some way make him feel
When flexing the
horse, use the lightest
amount of pressure
possible to begin. If
he doesn’t respond by
flexing and bending,
increase the pressure
to five ounces. As
soon as he responds
and softens his face,
release the reins.
uncomfortable for it) you’re going to be teaching him
that pulling against the bit is acceptable because there’s
no consequence for it. If you let the horse lean on the
bit he will remain hard and stiff, and it will be difficult to
progress his training. Remember, make the right thing
easy and the wrong thing difficult.
On the other hand, if you pick up on the reins and
make contact and don’t release that contact when the
horse softens and gives, your horse won’t get soft either.
Releasing pressure is the horse’s reward for doing the
right thing. Knowing when to release pressure is when
feel and timing come into play. Remember this—the
quicker you release, the quicker the horse understands.
Horses just want us to stop pulling on them. We want
them to understand that as soon as they soften, we release the pressure.
Do I have soft hands?
How can you tell if you have soft hands? Well, your
horse will tell you. If your horse is really light, soft and
supple, there’s a good chance you have soft hands. If
your horse is really stiff and heavy, there’s a good chance
you don’t have soft hands. The horse will tell you what
you have.
You don’t have to have soft hands to ride a horse. A
lot of people ride horses all over the country with ter-
One of the best ways to develop
feel is to close your eyes and
run your finger tips down one
rein real slow, and then pick up
and flex your horse. When you
close your eyes, you rely on your
feel more than your eyesight.
rible feel and timing. But again, I’m in the business of
teaching horsemanship and you’re in the business of
learning horsemanship. You’re interested in developing a lighter, controlled, happier and responsive horse
because a lighter, controlled, happier and responsive
horse is a nicer horse to ride. Soft hands give the horse
the opportunity to respect and trust you as a leader.
Let me ask you something—do you remember what it
was like to drive cars with no power steering? Do you remember the first day you drove a car with power steering? Remember how light it was? You could put one finger on the steering wheel and turn the car around with
one finger. Well, you would never voluntarily go back to
driving a car without power steering would you?
If you’re pretty young and have never driven a car
without power steering, the best way to describe what
a lack of power steering is like is if your car runs out
of gas, or if it breaks down along the highway, and you
have to pull it to the side of the road—that heavy feeling in the steering wheel—that’s how cars used to feel.
I’m not that old, I’m 31, but I remember driving a lot
of vehicles when I got started driving that didn’t have
power steering.
An Exercise to Develop Feel
One of the best ways to develop feel is to close your
eyes and run your finger tips down one rein real slow,
and then pick up and flex your horse. When you close
your eyes, you rely on your feel more than your eyesight. People that are blind have incredibly good feel.
When they want to see what somebody looks like, what
do they do? They run their hands all over that person’s
face. It’s like they’re painting a picture in their minds.
Blind people have incredible feel because they rely on
that to make up for not being able to see. Often, when
you close your eyes on a horse (I’m talking about at a
stand still here, so nobody take this out of context)
you’ll find your feel gets better. If you pick up and find
resistance, then you want to increase the pressure. But,
always initially pick up gently.
Keep these things in mind the next time you ride your
horse—feel, timing and experience. The only way to develop feel and timing is through experience. The more
experience you have, the better your feel and timing get
and the more willing and softer your horse will be. The
more you practice, the more clinics you go to and the
more articles you read, the better your abilities will get.
Will the Real Perceived Value
Please Stand Up
Editor’s Note: Rachelle Wilhelm is our Club Writer—she turns Clinton’s training methods into articles and puts his
words on paper for our Club members in the quarterly Journal.
A number of thoughts and fears raced through my mind leading up to the Three Day
Horsemanship Clinic I was participating in. The most prevalent—making a complete fool
of myself and being fired on the spot. I decided long before the weekend approached
that if I stayed in the saddle and didn't get drug around the arena, I'd be happy with
myself.
Of course, I searched the club forums high and low and found all the information I could
on participating in a clinic. Past participants all seemed to agree that while the clinics
were fun and jam packed with information, a lot of hard work and tired, aching muscles
were to be expected. So I knew going in what I was getting myself into.
My horse, on the other hand, didn't know what she was getting herself into. My partner
in crime for the past three and a half years has been Val, an Appendix Quarter Horse registered as Perceived Value. Until two weeks before the clinic, my mare was enjoying life
turned out in a pasture on my family's dairy farm. The fact that she'd had close to ten
months off and only 12 rides before the clinic made me extra nervous.
To be honest, before I participated in the clinic, I didn't think I could ask for a better
horse (and I still can't, we both just need some educating). I've been working with Val
since starting her under saddle, and she was always more than willing to do what I asked
of her, responsive and respectful of my space. She never attempted to bite me, kick me
or in any other way physically harm me. She stands for the farrier and vet, can be clipped,
loads in the trailer and accepts shots. Overall, I thought I had a pretty respectful and
responsive horse.
Two hours into the first day of the clinic, I realized that I had been bamboozled. I saw
a whole different side to my mare. While Yielding the Hindquarters Stage I (asking the
horse to pivot on her front legs while disengaging her hind legs 360 degrees), Val took a
couple of steps and then stopped moving, so I lightly tapped her with the Handy Stick. She
kicked out point blank. Two things raced through my mind when her hind foot came flying
out 1) My Horse just tried to kick me, and 2) standing at a 45 degree angle to the horse's
shoulder is important. Clinton doesn't keep repeating it just to hear himself talk.
And things didn't get much better from there. Val got a huge F in lateral flexion. On the
ground, with just the halter and lead rope, the flexing wasn't half bad. However, flexing
with the bridle was a whole different story.
I'd pick up on the rein and it felt like I was trying to pull 50 pounds up to my hip. She
wanted no part of touching her nose to my boot. At first, I wasn't too discouraged. I
thought after a couple of flexes she'd get more willing and figure out that the quickest
way for the pressure to go away was to give and flex. After all, she'd always
been willing to do what I had asked of her before. So I diligently flexed
her when we were at a stand still. But she didn't get any lighter. In fact, it
almost felt like she got worse. Like the blister developing on my finger from
pulling her head around, my irritation festered. What was going on here? Was I
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doing something wrong or was my horse stupid? I mean,
it seems to me that after repeating, "I pick up lightly
on the rein, you flex and then I release" 50 times, the
mare would catch on and immediately give as soon as I
picked up the rein.
“She knows better,” Clinton told me at the end of the
day. “She's just messing with you. Let me have a go with
her.”
After a short session of the Poke and Flex exercise, in
which Val tried to bite Clinton, and bowed up to kick him,
we called it a day and left her to think about the session
over night. Sunday morning, she came out to the arena with
a much better attitude and a lot more try. The difference
between the lightness in my horse at the beginning of
the clinic compared to the end was huge. At the beginning, my arm muscles were aching from dragging her head
around and by the end, I could pick up on the reins with
my finger tips. Of course, she's far from perfect, but at
least she was trying and putting in some effort.
The thing that surprised me the most about the clinic was
the fact that my horse didn't spook or shy at anything
on the ground or under saddle, especially under saddle.
Going into the clinic, the Cruising Lesson was probably
what I was dreading the most. I had never ridden Val
with more than two horses at one time so I had visions
of her bucking like a bronc or darting out from under
me. But she didn't, she just cruised around the arena
like she'd been there and done that.
Finally! No
w That's t
he Val I
know and
love! Cruis
in
g was
a breeze Good Girl!
I'm sure that was in a large part do to all the groundwork we did. We worked the horses in the morning going through exercises like Yielding the Forequarters, Lungeing for Respect,
Circle Driving (a fun one you should definitely try), backing, etc. I'm more than positive
that if we hadn't done the groundwork, Val wouldn't have went around the arena like she
did. A couple of the participants didn't work their horses through some of the morning's
exercises on the first day, and they paid for it when it came time for the Cruising
Lesson.
My breakthrough moment at the clinic was that I thought I had a respectful and responsive horse only because I wasn't asking very much out of her. Before, I was happy when
she moved her hindquarters one or two steps away from me so I could walk around her or
brush her leg. Or, if I asked her to back out of my personal space, I was pleased when
she took a step or two backwards. I never knew that I had a horse with a disrespect
problem until I started asking her to really move her feet. I guess she was just humoring
me before, but once I started asking her to work, she let her real feelings come out.
I'm continuing to work on the exercises we covered in the clinic, and I'm happy to say
although I find myself tripping over the lead rope from time to time and fumbling with
hand positions, Val is improving. The small changes I have seen in her since the clinic are
exciting, and I can't wait to take our relationship to a new level.
- Rachelle
45
Energy for the Athletic Horse
By Bruce
Arentson, PhD
Let me introduce you to Under Pressure, a fine
7-year-old quarter horse who performs regularly
in equine competitions. Under Pressure travels via
a trailer almost every other weekend to an event.
While at these events, his feeding schedule is disrupted, the water and hay are different, and the
surroundings are always changing. You wouldn’t
believe some of the arrogant stallions and beautiful
mares he meets at these events. Though you would
think Under Pressure would get used to traveling
and the stress of the events, the anxiety always
seems to affect him. Under Pressure never seems
to eat as well as he should, distracted by the activities surrounding him. After the strenuous weekend event, he loads for the tiring trailer ride home.
Back at home in the comfort of his own stall, peace
reigns, except for the daily 2-hr workouts he needs
to keep his skills sharp.
For Under Pressure to compete in top form, he has
to exhibit speed, stamina and power. Feeding him
to maximize his speed and stamina without upset-
ting his delicate digestive system is a challenge.
This article will address how physical demands of
performing affect a horse’s energy requirements
and feeding management.
The most significant challenge of feeding Under
Pressure is maintaining him in ideal body condition. Because of the physical demands his routine
places on him and the stress of travel, he doesn’t
always eat sufficient feed to meet his energy requirements. Energy intake is the primary nutrient
of concern. For Under Pressure to be able to go the
distance, he must have sufficient energy intake in
his diet. Energy fuels the body functions and muscle contractions during exercise. Because Under
Pressure cannot eat while working, he must depend
on stored energy. Animals, including horses, store
energy as glycogen or sugar in muscle and the liver
and as intramuscular fat.
The type of energy stores that a horse utilizes
during exercise depends on the intensity of the exercise. During mild exercise, when the circulatory
system provides sufficient oxygen to cells, the horse’s body
can use glycogen and fat stored in cells. Essentially, the stored
fat is converted to glucose which the cell uses. With sufficient
oxygen available, this is known as aerobic metabolism.
During intense exercise, when there is insufficient oxygen
at the cellular level, glycogen is the primary energy source,
and the utilization of stored fat as an energy source diminishes. After exercising, dietary starch is the energy source of
choice for regeneration of muscle and liver glycogen.
To regenerate Under Pressure’s glycogen stores after intense
exercise, he requires a grain product along with the roughage
(hay or pasture). With all the optional grain products available, the choice for Under Pressure should be based on logic,
feeding management capabilities and past experience with
the horse. A grain product with high concentrations of starch
and sugars (sweet feed with a significant amount of corn) can
be used, but requires careful feeding management to avoid
an increased risk of laminitis and colic. Feeding a grain product low in starch and sugars and a moderate fat level (low- to
moderate-energy concentration) may result in a decrease of
Under Pressure’s performance capability and a loss of body
condition. A grain product with a moderate amount of starch
and sugars, and medium- to high-fat concentrations is most
likely the best approach. Feeding Under Pressure should be
based on the best science available. However, science may
not always define his optimal dietary energy requirements so
experience becomes a trustworthy tool and should be a factor
in fine-tuning his diet.
Dietary fat from vegetable oils can be used as a source
of energy to partially replace starch. Fat fed in moderate
amounts (up to 10% of the total diet) is highly digestible.
One benefit of adding fat in the diet is increasing the energy
density of the diet without increasing the feed intake. This is
especially important for horses like Under Pressure, because it
is difficult at times to increase feed intake. Most performance
horses require three to four weeks to adapt to and fully utilize
dietary fat. An added benefit from feeding additional fat is
the improvement in the hair coat shine.
Horses have the capability to utilize forage such as pasture
and hay which can provide a significant amount of energy.
The fiber is digested by microbes in the cecum and large intestine. The fermentation products from bacteria are absorbed
and utilized as energy by the horse. In most situations with
horses like Under Pressure, feeding forage is required. When
not on pasture, it is recommended to feed long stem hay freechoice to keep the digestive tract healthy. As a rule of thumb,
it is recommended that the amount of forage offered be at
least 1% of the horse’s body weight.
Digestible Energy
In the United States, the measure of dietary energy for
horses is usually expressed as the term kilocalories of digestible energy. Digestible energy refers to the amount of energy
in the diet that is utilized by the horse. Feed ingredients have
an estimated digestible energy value. The digestible energy
requirement for a horse is calculated based on the horse’s
maintenance requirement of digestible energy plus the additional energy needed based on exercise (work). Once the
digestible energy requirement is calculated for a horse, then
the amount of feed needed to meet the horse’s requirement
is determined.
Following is an example to illustrate the difference in the
amount of feed required to meet the energy requirements of
a 1000-lb horse at maintenance and heavy work. The hay is
assumed to have 900 kilocalories digestible energy (DE) per
pound and the grain product fed has 1475 kilocalories DE per
pound. Hay is being fed at 1% of body weight per day or 10
lb per day. The horse’s energy requirement increases dramatically from 15,000 kilocalories per day to 28,000 kilocalories
per day as he goes from maintenance to a heavy work load. To
meet the increased dietary energy demand, the feeding rate
of the grain product increases from 4.1 lb to 12.9 lb per day.
Other factors such as body condition and weather conditions
may alter the calculated feeding rate.
Because the performance horse is being fed a significant
amount of grain, he must be carefully managed to prevent
any digestive upsets and to maximize intake. Use only the
highest quality grain products with the most desirable energy
content, and feed the daily grain product allotment in three
to four feedings per day at regular intervals. To minimize gastrointestinal fill, therefore, the weight the horse must carry,
it is recommended not to feed within two hours before exercise. Also, wait for one to two hours after exercise to feed the
horse to allow him to cool. Typical daily feed intake of forage
and grain is 1.5 to 2.5% of the horse’s body weight. Hardworking horses, like Under Pressure, may require 3% of their
body weight.
The scenario of the fictional horse, Under Pressure, is similar
to many performance horses. Their feeding regime requires
careful management to keep them in top condition in order
to compete in top form. Getting enough energy into them to
retain their top performance and body condition is a challenge and requires careful feeding management of a scientifically formulated ration.
Bruce Arentson, Ph.D.
Kent Feeds, Inc.
www.kentfeeds.com
Dr. Arentson is Vice President, Equine &
Companion Animal Nutrition for Kent Feeds,
Muscatine, Iowa. He is responsible for oversight
of formulation for equine and companion animalrelated products, as well as equine nutrition
research trials. He received his BS degree in
Animal Science from Iowa State University in
1979, and MS and Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition
from Iowa State University. An active member
of American Society of Animal Science and
American Feed Industry Association, Dr. Arentson
also holds membership in the American Registry
of Profession Animal Scientists. He has been
involved in the feed industry for 22 years.
Madison yielding Mindy’s forequarters with a little help from Clinton at the Rancho Murieta, CA Wahl Walkabout Tour.
Meeting Clinton Anderson for my Birthday… Priceless!!
“When Clinton put me on Mindy’s back, I had happy tears
in my eyes,” 5-year-old Madison McCain told her grandma,
Brenda McCain. Brenda knows that her granddaughter will
cherish the experience for the rest of her life.
Brenda, one of the first charter members of the No Worries
Club, surprised Madison and her 7-year-old sister Makayla
with tickets to the Rancho Murieta Wahl Walkabout Tour
stop on April Fools’ Weekend in California. Brenda bought
the tickets as the girls’ birthday presents. Dressed in t-shirts,
made by Brenda, that read: Birthday party-- $200.00, New
Birthday Dress-- $20.00, Meeting Clinton Anderson for my
birthday…Priceless!!!!, the girls were excited beyond words
about meeting Clinton in person.
The sisters found out Friday night before the tour that they
would get to watch Clinton live the next morning. Brenda
has been following Clinton’s training program for the past
year, and said that Madison is glued to the TV when the
Downunder Horsemanship program comes on RFD-TV.
“I had to prime her for what she was going to ask,” Brenda
said. “She was actually going to ask Clinton to marry her.”
Instead, Madison settled for asking Clinton why he loved
Mindy so much and why the mare is so special to him. There
were moist eyes in the sold-out crowd when Clinton was done
explaining why the liver chestnut mare holds a special place
close to his heart. But to Brenda and her granddaughters, “The
most heartfelt thing he said was, ‘Mindy is a great horse, she
may not be the most talented or athletic horse in the world,
but she makes up for it in heart, desire and try.’”
Then Clinton did the unexpected and invited Madison
to come out to the arena with him and work Mindy. Since
Clinton had just finished his Advanced Groundwork demo
with Mindy working at liberty, the mare wasn’t wearing a
halter or lead. Madison yielded Mindy’s forequarters, side
passed her and backed her up with Clinton following in her
footsteps. She even laid Mindy down and sat on her shoulder.
But the best part of the time she spent out in the arena was
when Clinton lifted her up and put her on Mindy’s back.
“Clinton made Madison the happiest little girl in the world
when he picked her up and put her on Mindy’s back,” Brenda
said. “She was and is still very thrilled to have just gotten to
pet Mindy, let alone getting to sit on her “Dream Horse.”
At home in Butte Valley, California, Madison has been riding horses for almost a year with her grandma, and by her own
admission, is getting pretty good. Brenda owns three horses—a 7-year-old Quarter Horse/Paint mare and two Quarter
Horse geldings, one 10 and the other 15. While Brenda is currently in the market for a safe, reliable ride for her granddaughters (and Madison is helping by donating her birthday
cash to the savings), for now, the two girls catch rides on one
of their grandma’s horses. Madison’s favorite is Gabby, and
she practices what her favorite Aussie trainer preaches.
“Both of the girls take what they learn from Clinton and
practice on the horses,” Brenda said. “They flex them on the
ground and under saddle
and even do Lungeing for
Respect.”
And the precocious 5year-old is already planning ahead for her new
horse. When her step-mom
asked her if she planned
to name her new horse
Mindy, Madison looked
at her and said, “No, I’m
naming her Morgan cause
there’s only one Mindy!”
Member’s Corner
Photos from our club members around the world...
Above: Steven Twilley on
Dancer. Right: Shadow
and Luzonna from David
Bunfill.
Carol and Bart Cox with
Hank and Chief. Photo by Stacy Pigott.
No Fluff
By: Harold Roy Miller
If your horse isn’t performing up to snuff,
try using Clinton Anderson’s method of no fluff.
Your horse’s bad behavior you’ll be able to correct
if you establish dominance and get its trust and respect.
If you have an equine whose ground manners need improving
his advice is to get the horse’s feet to moving.
He also stresses you always need to get two eyes
and the best way to sensitize and desensitize.
“Easy as possible, firm as necessary” he strives to teach
and he piques your interest with his Aussie accented speech.
He is a master with the horse and his training knowledge is vast.
His “No Worries” Downunder Horsemanship is catching on real fast.
Clinton’s skillful training is firm but never cruel or mean.
His mare Mindy is the best trained horse that I’ve ever seen.
The demonstration he gave at a clinic was enough to convice me
he’s sure enough a bonified horseman to the first degree.
You can do it. he can help.
8755 State Route 638 • Belle Center, OH 43310
PRSRT STD
US Postage
Paid
PERMIT 44
SUGARCREEK, OH

teach your horse two tracking handle your horse

Transcription

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